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November 1990

November 1990

FEATURES INSIDE COLLARLOCK

In an almost silent way, Mark Gauthier of Collarlock has been BOBBY a major contributor to the recent rack revolution. In ELLIOTT this special industry profile, Gauthier explains the nuts and LA. STUDIO Not too many bands have bolts (and much more) of build- remained together—and suc- ing the unique ROUND TABLE cessful—as long as . Collarlock system. 's drumming has • by Rick Van Horn been an integral part of the 30 Colaiuta, Keltner, Porcaro, Mason, Baird, Fongheiser, and band's sound since they began Schaeffer—seven of the most recording. Find out why drum- respected and requested drum- mers like and Cozy mers recording today. Put 'em Powell understand the value of in a room together and press Elliott's contributions to the the record button, and what Hollies' timeless MD TRIVIA have you got? Read music. on...and LEARN. •by Simon Goodwin 26 CONTEST • by Robyn Flans 18 Win a set of Sound Formula ! 64

Cover Photo: Lissa Wales COLUMNS

Education

56 ROCK PERSPECTIVES The Benefits Of A Four-Piece Kit Equipment BY ANDY NEWMARK 36 PRODUCT 66 ROCK 'N' CLOSE-UP Departments CLINIC Corder Celebrity Applying Cross Drumkit News Rhythms To The

4 EDITOR'S Drumset Part 2 BY RICK VAN HORN OVERVIEW UPDATE BY ROD MORGENSTEIN 8 38 Legacy Michael Hodges, 6 READERS' 's Ian Mosley, 68 THE MACHINE BY RICK MATTINGLY PLATFORM Jerry Fehily of SHOP Hothouse Flowers, Drum Machines 40 Signature Bobby Z, plus News A To Z Drumsticks 12 ASK A PRO BY RIC FURLEY BY RICK MATTINGLY 14 IT'S Profiles STRICTLY 42 Nady SongStarter QUESTIONABLE 74 BY ADAM BUDOFSKY PORTRAITS TECHNIQUE 58 Rhythmic Rudimental IMPAC Snare 124 DRUM MARKET Dom Um Romao Progressions: Part 6 Replacement BY FRANK COLON BY JOE MORELLO BY WILLIAM F. MILLER 128 PHOTO GALLERY Anders Johansson

76 ROCK CHARTS 44 Vater Drumsticks BY M. JOHANSSON John "Jabo" Starks: "Superbad" BY RICK VAN HORN TRANSCRIBED BY JOSEPH CONNELL 48 ELECTRONIC REVIEW 78 SOUTH OF THE KAT midi K.I.T.I. BORDER BY ED URIBE Samba For Conga BY JOHN SANTOS 120 NEW AND NOTABLE 102 CONCEPTS Experience BY ROY BURNS EDITOR'S OVERVIEW

EDITOR/PUBLISHER Ronald Spagnardi ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Isabel Spagnardi MANAGING EDITOR Rick Van Horn A Consumer Survey FEATURES EDITOR William F. Miller ASSOCIATE EDITOR Adam Budofsky CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Rick Mattingly Several months ago we sent out a somewhat EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Karen Walsh detailed, six-page questionnaire to 2000 sub- ART DIRECTOR Scott G. Bienstock scribers across the country, who were selected to ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER Tracy A. Kearns be part of an MD Marketing Advisory Panel. The questionnaire was designed to determine ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Joan C. Stickel consumer preferences on a wide range of percus- ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Bob Berenson sion equipment. We asked our survey group to rate SALES AND MARKETING Crystal W. Van Horn specific features for drums, cymbals, hardware, DIRECTOR percussion, electronics, sticks, heads, and even cases. The ques- MAIL ROOM SUPERVISOR Leo Spagnardi tionnaire was also used to ascertain not only current ownership of CONSULTANT TO THE Arnold E. Abramson equipment, but purchasing plans for the next 12 months, as well. PUBLISHER Finally, a portion of the survey was developed to establish what sources of information most stimulated interest in a product, and MODERN DRUMMER ADVISORY BOARD: Henry Adler, Kenny what factors played a role in the final buying decision. Reasons for Aronoff, , Bill Bruford, Roy Burns, Jim Chapin, Alan Dawson, Dennis DeLucia, Les DeMerle, Len DiMuzio, Charlie making particular choices included friends' recommendations, Donnelly, Peter Erskine, Vic Firth, Danny Gottlieb, Sonny Igoe, Jim print advertising, product reviews, and visibility in concert or on Keltner, , Peter Magadini, George Marsh, Joe Morello, Andy Newmark, , Charlie Perry, Dave Samuels, John Santos, MTV, among others. Ed Shaughnessy, Steve Smith, Ed Thigpen. What was the ultimate purpose of the survey? First, the infor- CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Susan Alexander, Robyn Flans, Simon mation we've collected will help MD editors obtain a clearer pic- Goodwin, Jeff Potter, Ten Saccone, Robert Santelli, Robin Tolleson, ture of product preferences among our consumer/readers. Lauren Vogel, T. Bruce Wittet Further insight on what's being purchased—and the factors that MODERN DRUMMER magazine (ISSN 0194-4533) is published influence those purchasing decisions—will help to keep our prod- monthly with an additional issue in July by MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc., 870 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, NJ 07009. uct reporting on target for MD readers. Second-Class Postage paid at Cedar Grove, NJ 07009 and at additional Secondly, all of the data will be compiled into a comprehensive mailing offices. Copyright 1990 by MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the per- report and distributed as a free service to all percussion manufac- mission of the publisher is prohibited. turers and MD advertisers. I might point out that many of these EDITORIAL/ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: MODERN manufacturers were consulted prior to the designing of the ques- DRUMMER Publications, 870 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, NJ tionnaire, as a guide in determining what information each need- 07009. Tel.: (201) 239-4140. ed to know from consumers. We hope the completed report will MODERN DRUMMER welcomes manuscripts and photographic mate- aid them in gearing their future product lines in accordance with rial, however, cannot assume responsibility for them. Such items must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. the major preferences revealed in the study. Consumer percep- tions of artist endorsements, pricing, product visibility, and war- MUSIC DEALERS: Modern Drummer is available for resale at bulk rates. Direct correspondence to Modern Drummer, Dealer Service, P.O. ranties are a few of the many other important considerations Box 389, Mt Morris, IL 61054. Tel.: (800) 334-DRUM or (815) 734- manufacturers will be able to observe from the study. 6013. The overall response to our survey was extremely satisfying, SUBSCRIPTIONS: $27.95 per year; $49.95, two years. Single copies and I'd like to thank all the participating Advisory Panel members. $3.95. We're well-aware that it was a lengthy, complex questionnaire to SUBSCRIPTION CORRESPONDENCE: Modern Drummer, P.O. Box complete, and we certainly appreciate the time each respondent 480, Mt. Morris, IL 61054-0480. Change of address: Allow at least six weeks for a change. Please provide both old and new address. Toll Free devoted to the task. Obviously, a comprehensive report would not Tel.: (800) 435-0715. have been possible without the cooperation of so many panel members. Hopefully, each and every one of us involved in the drum and percussion industry will benefit from the information Audit Bureau Of Circulations Membership applied for. that's been gathered here.

READERS' PLATFORM

Tommy Wells consistently broken new ground—especially development. This shortfall in personality The Michael Briggs piece on Tommy Wells in the field of electronics. In doing so, he and attitude is often the result of inade- in your August issue was superb. It's nice has redefined the role of the drummer and quate training in the home and/or school to see MD feature someone who isn't a expanded the realm of possibilities for all of environment, and it becomes the responsi- household name but has just as much us. bility of the perceptive drum teacher to insight to offer as a player who is. Those Congratulations, Bill, on your election to impart these values along with the mechan- people interested in a career in music could MD's Hall of Fame. And congratulations, ics of playing. Special thanks to Roy Burns, definitely benefit from the down-to-earth Modern Drummer—a great way to start the whose articles reflect the value of "having approach Tommy has. His portion on elec- 1990s. your head together." tronics was also helpful. Thanks again for Todd Bernhardt Will Dower the informative article. Washington DC Sydney, Australia Ted Tretiak St. Louis MO Agrees With Rod Thanks From Carl Rod Morgenstein's comments on "rock ver- I would like to take this opportunity to Disagrees With Watson sus jazz" attitudes [July '90 MD] remind express my sincere thanks and appreciation In response to Mr. Alan Watson's remarks me of similar attitudes I have encountered to Modern Drummer, its staff, and its read- [Readers' Platform, August '90 MD] con- because I refuse to limit myself to just one ers for both consideration and for voting for cerning 's feature in the May style of music. I have put up with sarcastic me in the Mainstream Jazz category of the issue: Just who in God's creation do you remarks such as "What do y'all play...punk- 1990 Readers Poll. I consider this recogni- think you are? If it weren't for drummers thrash?" or "I hear you're playing in a pop- tion a great honor—particularly since I've like Don Henley, Phil Collins, and the like, metal band now," or "You're not gonna play been an avid reader of the magazine for the music and drumming industry would with those old geezers, are you?" many years. God bless you all, and (of be lacking a great deal—not to mention our Well, I'll play with whomever I want, and course) keep swingin'! ears missing out on a lot of incredible everyone who disapproves can just sit in Carl Allen music. As for your remark on drummers their bedrooms and play their instruments Brooklyn NY who were great, where do you think drum- while I go out and try to make something ming would be today without the likes of happen. Presently, I am playing in a com- , , and the still- munity marching band, and although it is jammin' ? Alan, the next time not a paying gig, I'm keeping in practice you decide to criticize someone, please take and having a blast. So it doesn't matter to Thanks From Sam a look at what they have contributed to the me whether it's rock, jazz, country, or Thank you for the fine listing of drum music scene. I've been playing for ten years oldies; the bottom line is, "I'm playing teachers in your August issue. The detail now, and let me say that the music these drums." and work that went into compiling this col- men have created has been as big a part of Dudley Johnson lection of drum educators was brilliant. It is my life as breathing. Atlanta GA something that has been needed for years, John Bennett and I was proud to be included. Washington Township NJ Sam Ulano New York NY Appreciation From Down Under As a player and teacher with 25 years expe- Congrats to Bill rience, I must congratulate Modern I've had the pleasure of meeting Bill Drummer on being a well-balanced maga- Editors'Plea Bruford on several occasions, and have zine. I'm impressed with the educational MD readers: For future MD trivia contests, found him to be a gentleman and profes- columns—in particular those such as please send in only reasonably-sized sional, as well as a stunning player. He is Concepts, The Jobbing Drummer, Taking postcards. Huge cards are no more likely to also one of those rare artists who has cho- Care Of Business, and Head Talk. All too be chosen than standard-sized ones, and sen to follow his muse instead of the often, wonderful players don't make the only make our sorter grumpy. And no cards almighty dollar, and because of this, has professional level because of poor personal in envelopes, please. Thank you.

high school, he was thrilled. asked if he thought we could was happening, and I get four MICHAEL HODGES Little did he know it would cut it, and Adrian went to bat counts, and then I count the In April, 1989, while Michael turn into the for us. band off. I had already gotten Hodges was in Aruba with a world tour. "The biggest thing in this my four counts, and I was on '50s and '60s band called the "A year ago September, situation is keeping the tunes count three of the count-off. Vandells, he got a call from David had seen the band in together, because two thirds Adrian said he thought I was Adrian Belew's management, Montreal and talked to Adrian of the songs are sequenced. I golfing, because I just yelled, asking him to play on Belew's about playing his tour," wear headphones, and I've got 'Four!' and went into the project, Mr. Music Head. Michael recalls. "Adrian said a click—which is a hi-hat song. Everyone jumped in." Having grown up and worked he was working with Rick instead of just a mechanical Michael admits, however, on and off with Belew since [Fox] and me, and David click—and then I have a that working in arenas defi- metronomic light that is dis- nitely called for an adjust- playing the time at the same ment. "It's just a different time in case it gets too loud thing. You really have to trim on stage. That way I can still the fat. You just make big see the time happening. We moves, because all the rest of did a lot of click stuff with that stuff doesn't translate to Adrian, so I'm used to doing the arena situation. It just gets that, but the key to it is to lost and starts making every- relax. If you start to fight the thing sound cluttered. I had to click, you're always going to learn to play a totally different lose. way, like more 8ths on the hi- "It's really a hard thing to hat than 16th notes, because learn to play with the machine you have to hit the snare hard- and make it sound natural," er. I even got blisters in differ- Michael continues. "You can ent places than I used to." get real worried about the The tour goes through whole thing falling apart, and November, hopefully there if you start getting off, it can will be a break, and then be a train wreck. One night we Michael will go out with were playing 'Ashes To Ashes,' Adrian Belew's Young Lion and I don't know what I was tour. thinking about. I was chang- • Robyn Flans ing programs on the Octapad, and all of a sudden the click

dog van. It wasn't luxury," he probably a little simpler, if when I played with Steve IAN MOSLEY laughs. anything. It's difficult to know. Hackett, some of it was great Marillion's lan Mosley has Marillion's Season's All we know is we're just writ- and there was some nice had an unusual year. The End was released in October ing, playing, and enjoying it. melodies going on, but a lot of band's singer, Fish, left the of last year. Then Ian and the It's like any job, I suppose. If it was just self-indulgent. band, and it took six months band played a couple of gigs you don't enjoy it, it doesn't 'Let's do this bit in a weird to find a replacement. After in the States just to let their matter how much you're get- time signature because it's a finding ("It record company know that ting paid." good laugh. And let's do a became apparent straight they were still a viable band. Mosley says that from the massive drum solo in the mid- away that there was a chem- After that they returned to drumming side, he's thinking dle of a song.' At the time it istry between us," Mosley Britain for a tour, and then in more about playing the music was, 'Yeah, alright, I'll do a says), the band did a tour of January it was off to play a fes- as a part of the band. "Every drum solo,'" he laughs, Europe, which "was probably tival in Rio. From there it was drummer goes through that "where now I'd question that. the best we've done," accord- on to the States to do a proper stage where they want to be I'd say, 'Well, why?' I don't ing to Ian. "When I first tour. absolutely wonderful and think I do anything particular- joined Marillion, it had that "I suppose the band's very impress every drummer in the ly flash anymore. It is musical, 'go for it' vibe, and it's back different now without Fish," audience. I think you tend to though." again. We went 'round the muses Ian. "But, at the same grow out of that. That can • Susan Alexander whole of Europe in three time, it's still the same sound like an excuse for not weeks—all in the back of a hot Marillion sound. The music's practicing," he laughs. "But plex drummers. "I've been thing I wrote, but there were a JERRY FEHILY listening to a lot of Vinnie BOBBY Z few good things that got out." If Jerry Fehily had followed his Colaiuta and Dave Weckl and Before becoming a producer Although Bobby admits first love, he'd be kicking a that kind of stuff. I always like and then a solo artist, Bobby that Prince's shadow loomed soccer ball for a professional to break it up a bit. Instead of Z played drums with Prince large in shaping his career, he team instead of a playing straight fours, I like to for several years. His debut also states that he is still an for the band Hothouse stick in a little accent here or release, Bobby Z, is a testa- artist with his own voice. "My Flowers. As a teenager in there. Whatever I'm playing, I ment not only to his drum- roots are here, on this Cork, a county in southern like to make it interesting. You ming skills, but also his song- album," says Bobby, "and Ireland, Fehily was a member can hit little bells or cymbals writing and production tal- people have got to accept the of his country's national soc- to color it up a bit. It can turn ents. Bobby asserts that all of fact that I have my own vision. cer team. All this soccer play- out quite musical." these pursuits had been Prince is one in a zillion, and ing must have kept him busy, However, Fehily realizes important to him even before he has taught me a whole lot. because he didn't start playing that you can sometimes take a he left Prince to strike out on In fact, I don't know if I would the drums until he was 18. A good thing too far. "I used to his own. have made the record without self-taught drummer who copy Manu Katche and his "I actually wrote songs dur- his influence. But I feel I had learned to play by listening to use of splash cymbals. At one ing the entire time I was with some influence on him, too." records, Fehily attributes time I had three or four splash Prince," he says. "I did get Bobby's notable production much of his early success to cymbals around my set. Now I 'River Run Dry' on the career has included work with the lack of drummers in his have only one. That was his Family album, for instance. Boy George, Wendy & Lisa, area. "When I first started, I kettle of fish." [That song is reworked on Aswad, and . "I played in about six or seven The 27-year-old drummer Bobby's most recent release.] really enjoyed all that," he bands at the same time," he is currently on a world tour It was hard to utilize that situ- comments. "But I was getting says. "There weren't very supporting Hothouse Flow- ation as an outlet for every- labeled as a producer, so I many drummers in Cork, so I ers' second album, Home, the decided to jump off got a lot of gigging practice. It follow-up to 1988's People. and do this record. was great." In 1986, at age 23, Most of the songs from Home But that doesn't Fehily moved to . After were written during sound mean I won't contin- an audition he recalls as a check, when the band just ue to produce in the "brilliant jam," he joined jams on different ideas. Fehily future." Hothouse Flowers. thinks "the songs are fantas- It sounds like Fehily's drumming is a sig- tic," but adds that he's only Bobby thrives on all nificant part of Hothouse's happy with his drumming on the different roles passionate soul-tinged sound. about five of the album's he plays, and he "Basically, my role as drum- tracks. He'd much rather be claims that the vari- mer is to keep time and give playing in a freer live situation ations are natural to the music all of my energy, than in a more restrictive stu- him. "Yeah, produc- really go for it," he says. dio setting. "In the studio er, writer, singer, Perhaps what stands out most sometimes I'm not allowed to drummer—I love it when listening to Fehily play be myself. Playing live is the all. But to me, it's is his fondness for playing best, though. The crowds we just the way I go syncopated patterns on his attract are brilliant. You can't about making music. ride while maintaining beat a good crowd reaction. It I'm lucky in that I do a solid 4/4 rhythm on the bass really lifts your performance." get to apply a lot of and snare. It's something • John Rivito different things." Fehily says he's picked up • Teri Saccone from listening to more com-

Matt Chamberlain on the is on tour with the Black Crowes, sup- NEWS... New Bohemians' newly re- with Motley Crue. Opening porting their album Shake Sandy Gennaro has joined leased album. for them is , with Bobby Your Moneymaker. Polygram's Company Of Joe Vitale co-produced Blotzer at the drums. Ratt is Barry Keane recently in Wolves. Also, congratulations Crosby, Stills & Nash's recent supporting their new album, the studio with Anne Murray, to Sandy and Shari on their single, "Live It Up" (which he Detonator. Roger Whittaker, and the recent wedding. wrote), and he is currently on Albert Bouchard recently Memphis Bros. Barry is cur- playing with the road with them playing in the studio producing the rently touring the U.S. with , and they are drums, with Michito San- band Heads Up! . also recording a live album. chez on percussion. Steve Gorman on tour

I used two Yamaha carbon-fiber Tommy Aldridge snare drums on Slip Of The Tongue: a 3" piccolo and an 8"- First off, I would like to say you are defi- deep drum. The piccolo, of nitely my favorite drummer, and the best course, is the higher-pitched of in the rock world! I was fortunate enough to see the two. Carbon-fiber is a com- the Whitesnake show in Knoxville, Tennessee posite material developed by the this past spring. Your performance was excel- aerospace industry. It was ini- lent. tially used for structural parts in I would like to know how you got your snare jet fighters because of its sound on Slip Of The Tongue. It is very "in" with strength and light weight. These the songs and the rest of the drums. I'd also like characteristics make it the per- to know what "carbon-fiber" is; the credits of fect material for thin—and the album say that you use it. therefore resonant—drumshells. Could you tell me what your drum cage is Because of its strength, the shell made of? Someone told me that they saw on can be made extremely thin MTV that you had the most expensive drumkit without risk of warpage. Unfort- in the world, and I thought the cage might have something to do unately, it is a very expensive material. I have one of two kits with that. Finally, how did you get that "pow"—both on vinyl made by Yamaha. I do, however, feel it is the material of the and live—on "Judgement Day" ? future for drum shells. RyanWilkey My cage is made primarily of aluminum. The clamps and BirchwoodTN brackets are made of chrome-moly and powder-coated black. The aluminum parts are anodized gold. As for the "pow" you Thank you very much for your kind remarks. Fans like speak of on "Judgement Day," two words explain it: carbon- you are very inspirational. fiber!

crash; 18" Brilliant thin doing recording ses- crash; 13" Z Dyno Beat hi- sions in at the hats; 24" Platinum Swish time—and I would set I saw you play on 's 25th Knocker (with rivets); 17" up my to anniversary tour, and I thought you Brilliant paper thin crash. my left and my swish to were awesome! I have three very impor- As to why my ride is on my my right (therefore tant questions to ask you. First, what left: A long time ago, having providing a quick types of Zildjian cymbals did you use on played right-handed since I escape route if every- the tour? Second, why do you put your started, I felt it was time to thing started to go ride cymbal to your left if your drumkit is change—especially as the wrong—which it fre- set up as if you were right-handed? style of drumming was quently did). To the Finally, I've been looking everywhere for changing and I was moving unsuspecting producer your solo album, Protocol, but can't seem to a larger setup. There were it just sounded rather to find it. Can you tell me how I might certain problems arising strange, but interest- acquire it? from enlarging the drumset, ing. I continued to do Alan Trezza like crossing the hands and generally get- this until it became second nature. Now I Manhassat NY ting into a real mess with all these new can play right- or left-handed. things to hit. I figured if I could play with As for getting hold of a copy of Thank you for your kind compli- my left hand on the hi-hat, this would Protocol, my record company in the U.K ments. My cymbal setup for the open up the whole kit to a freer approach is Music for Nations, 102 Belsize Lane, Who tour, left to right as I saw them, was: of playing. It would also make me sound London, NW3 5BB, . [Look for a 24" Swish Knocker (no rivets); 12" quite different to myself. So I started rid- track from Protocol featured next month splash; 14" Platinum New Beat hi-hats; ing with my left hand. I actually went in an exclusive MD Sound Supplement.] 22" K Custom ride; 19" Brilliant thin back to a small kit to do this—as I was

IT'S QUESTIONABLE

As part of my home study I'm What can I do to prolong the life of this I recently purchased a Pearl DR-1 working on "The Black Page"—the cymbal? And can you give any pointers as Drum Rack for my drumkit. My kit version played by Terry Bozzio on Frank to the proper way to mount a China-type is a six-piece Export model, with 12" and Zappa's Live In New York album. Is cymbal? A cymbal mounted in an upside- 13" rack toms and 16" and 18" floor toms. there some way I could get hold of a tran- down position doesn't move as freely The floor toms have legs, rather than scription of this, and/or the original chart when struck as one mounted in the con- rack mounts. I'm considering suspending that Terry had to learn from? ventional manner—thus increasing the them from the DR-1. What should I do to Also, after nine years of playing heel- chances that it will eventually crack as facilitate this? Do I drill holes in the down on my pedals, I've recently changed mine has done. shells so that I can install rack-tom to heel-up. I've checked out many videos Terry Stedman mounts? If so, where on the drum should and talked to teachers, but find that, as Lee Center NY I drill—more toward the top or the bot- far as foot technique is concerned, every- tom of the drum? Do I leave the leg hold- one says, "It's probably best to watch my Zildjian suggests two methods ers on? If I remove them, do I plug the foot." I'm playing four nights a week, for the repair of your cymbal. holes? If so, what do I plug them with? plus daytime practice and rehearsals with One is to enlarge the hole slightly, so as Finally, should I leave the set the way it is other bands, but I still find balance prob- to eliminate the crack. This should not with the intention of upgrading to better- lems, spring tension problems, etc. be done if the crack has become longer quality drums in the future, and having Could you advise me of any books or than 1/8", since the resulting hole would them equipped with the necessary hard- videos that come close to a definite guide then be too large and the cymbal would ware from the manufacturer at the time to foot control? not fit properly on a stand. The other of purchase? David Ashcroft method is to install a protective metal Sy Seyler St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England grommet, which will reinforce the center Gaithersburg MD hole. These grommets are applied to You might contact Frank Zappa's Zildjian's marching cymbals, as added Whether or not this conversion is publishing company, Barfko- protection against the wear and tear of important enough to merit the Swill, at Box 5418, North Hollywood, straps used for marching. effort involved must be up to you. But California 91616, to see if a chart for There is no "proper" method for here are some points to consider. First, "The Black Page" is available. mounting a China-type cymbal, although 16" and 18" floor toms are generally so Two excellent videos involving foot the most popular method seems to be to resonant that the benefits of suspending technique are Joe Franco's mount the cymbal upside-down. This them from a drum rack are minimal. At Drumming and Dom Famularo's It's Your does put tremendous strain on the inside the same time, the strain put on , both available from DCI Video, edge of the hole in the cymbal's bell shells—especially of an entry-level 541 Avenue Of The Americas, New York, where it rubs against the bolt of the cym- drumkit—by suspending such heavy New York 10011. Joe has a book by the bal tilter. Many drummers crank the drums is significant. Suspending the same title to accompany his video, and wingnuts holding the cymbals down more toms will not gain you any particular sav- another excellent book is Colin Bailey's than usual, to "steady" the cymbal in a ings in hardware weight, since the weight Bass Drum Control. Both are published near-vertical position in an effort to of the tom legs and brackets you remove by DC Publications and distributed by reduce this strain. Unfortunately, this will be more than made up for by the Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation. also tends to choke the cymbal's sound. If addition of rack-tom shell mounts and (Check with your local music retailer you do wish to mount the cymbal in an suspending tom arms. regarding availability or distribution in upside-down manner, the best method Our advice would be to keep your cur- the U.K.) we know of for protecting the cymbal is rent floor toms on their legs. If and when to employ an Aquarian Super Cymbal you decide to upgrade, you may wish to Several years ago I purchased a Spring. This is a device that attaches to consider other sizes of drums, including new Zildjian Impulse 18" China the tilter bolt, and actually holds the cym- slightly smaller "floor" toms for which cymbal. Just recently, I noticed a small bal atop a stiff spring. When the cymbal suspension might be more practical. crack about 1/8" long on the bell of the is struck, the entire tilting mechanism of cymbal, starting from the center hole. the Cymbal Spring moves, thus prevent- I own a set of Pearl Prestige Studio The cymbal was mounted in an upside- ing any impact between the cymbal and a drums with a piano black lacquer down position. solid bolt. finish. Being the first set of lacquered

BY ROBYN FLANS

Photos by Lissa Wales Drummers are a wonderfully rare breed. I can't that," says Keltner, who is really no different. He imagine a gathering of guitar players where each would much rather talk about how everyone in the would only want to speak of the others' accomplish- room has influenced him than toot his own horn ments. But such was true the day , Jim Continuing the point, Baird recalls, "Jeff called me Keltner, Denny Fongheiser, Vinnie Colaiuta, Harvey over to his house one time, and he went over to the Mason, , and Steve Schaeffer got together stereo and said, 'You've got to dig this.' I'm thinking it's at my house to compare notes and swap anecdotes on some new cat, and I can't wait to hear it. I'm listening studio drumming. Fancy this smattering of dialog: and I look at him and he says, 'Yeah, it's you. Dig that "I remember twice getting a phone call from Jeff fill!' Dig me?" [Porcaro] saying, 'Hey, come down here, you gotta sub At one time or another I've interviewed each of these for me on one tune,'" Mike Baird recounts. Jeff was seven giants of the LA. studio scene, but somehow on a date at the Record Plant and said, 'I can't play having them all over at once, exchanging ideas and this groove, I'm going to call Baird.' So he called and arguing viewpoints, was a prospect that both excited I showed up to do one tune." and frightened me. I knew they'd be more apt to share "There are a lot of great in this town, some stories with their peers, but I also knew that it was sim- who are great at certain things," Jeff begins. "If some- ply scarier having seven pairs of eyes on me instead of body says, We're going to do a Chicago shuffle, a two- one. It seemed an awesome task to prepare for and pull handed thing,' I'm sitting there thinking, 'If there's an off, and I wish to express my special thanks to Ed who can do that way better than I can, Eblen for his invaluable help before, during, and after what's wrong with having Earl Palmer in for that one the big day. I couldn't have been more pleased. tune?' There are specialists who would be the best for In fact, these guys were so excited to get together with the song, best for the artist, best to make the producer one another that it was almost like having a party with shine. I'll say, 'You want the "Imagine" feel? There's a tape recorder going. They were just as excited to be the guy,'" he says, pointing to . spending that Sunday with one another as I was hav- "I don't think everybody would do something like ing all of them over to the house. RF: During a recent interview with Alex Acuna, he said that no JIM: My very first actual time in the studio was at RCA, and it ope is ready for their first session. I'd love for all of you to recall was with Gary Lewis ["Just My Style"]. I had just come from your first session, what you were met with, and what you found Sherry's on the strip, where I was playing real cool jazz with lit- out—what awarenesses and insights. Mike, why don't we start tle tiny 3D Gretsch sticks and a little drumset. They wanted me with you. to play a shuffle, and thank God at that time I wasn't afraid of MIKE: My actual very first session was in a band situation, so it shuffles. Later on I became deathly afraid of shuffles, but at that was a much easier ordeal. But my first legitimate session was a time I didn't know. was there, and he told me demo where I was recommended by , who at the exactly what to do. He said, "Play like this...." First of all, I think time was doing the Rocky Horror show. He was doing a project I remember him saying something about how the real guys play at Village Recorders, and I remember carting my own drums in, it—with the left hand and the right hand together. I tried it and and on the date was Richie Zito, David Foster, Lee Sklar, and it didn't work. To this day, I still can't do that. So he was saying, myself. I was scared shitless. I didn't really know who these peo- "Just do like this—with the left hand on the backbeat and the ple were, except for David Foster, so on that end it wasn't that right hand on the hi-hat and kind of open up the hi-hat a little much pressure. But of course all these things happened: The bit. So I did it and it worked out. I played the beginning fill snares broke on the , and I had no extra snares and down the kit and he said, "Why don't you do it backwards?" so I wound up duct taping it to the bottom of the snare drum. It did that. I did this little thing on the intro when they played the made me paranoid out of my mind. I got through the whole day, piano-bass figure where I opened the hi-hat and closed it quick- and at the end I said, "God, the bass player is pretty good. Who ly in the middle of a phrase, which was a very unconventional is he?" They go, "You don't know who Lee Sklar is? Where are thing for that time. They were sitting around saying how bril- you from?" I grew up in Southgate, and the names I was associ- liant it was, so I became this instantaneous find for them. I was ated with at that time were Jeff's—because I loved the Steely technically adept enough that I could do anything they wanted Dan stuff—, Jim Keltner, and cats from bands, like me to do. If they wanted me to play backwards or hang upside Bonham and so forth. down or come from underneath the drum—I could do all these I was really very naive to the whole studio scene and who was little things. That was my first session. I wasn't really scared happening and who wasn't. I wasn't ready from the standpoint of until later. being able to walk in with the confidence of having a track RF: You were too stupid to be scared. record of having done things. That takes time. That comes from JIM: I was too ignorant. Ignorance is bliss. I say "later on," doing it and doing it. I don't know if I walk into a session even because later on I became panicky at every session I went to, I now thinking to myself, "Oh, this is going to be cake," because I don't care who it was. It was like that for years. It's only now that always like it to be a challenge in some aspect. I'm an old man approaching senility that I finally don't have HF: Jim, how about your first session story? heart murmurs before I go to a session. RF: What started making you show, wanted to hire me. He asked if I played percussion, I said scared? COLAIUTA: yes, and he hired me for the Lucille Ball show, where I had to JIM: It's that thing of knowing play everything. Then somebody saw me do that and they called what you're supposed to be "I invested a me, so I started playing all these percussion dates. The good doing. thing about it was, I got to sit next to—as Jim said—, RF: What were you finding lot of money in Earl Palmer, Jim Gordon—everybody—and I learned so much out? about how to handle different situations. JIM: They used to tell me, this big rack of RF: What was your actual first drum session like? "Jimmy, you sound like a little HARVEY: I was nervous, but it was a lot easier than it would mouse running around on top electronics, and have been if I had come in and just had to play drums right off of a box. Do something with in the studios. I was aware of the tuning of the drums. I'd listen your drums. Listen to this it's just bells to how they'd tune their drums, and I'd just work on my own. record, listen to that record." I I'd never get to play them, but I had a couple of kits set up and used small sticks. I started and whistles— went from one to the other and tuned them. I had a set like learning how to loosen up my Hal's and a set that had a different kind of tuning, so I kind of drum heads and how to play it's jive." felt like I was prepared. with the butt of the stick. I tried to watch Hal [Blaine] as much as I could. I had the good fortune to come in at a time when I actually got to watch Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer at the drum- kit. I maintain that if you love music a lot, like we all do, when you hear a , you obtain that imme- diately—their vibe, their feel, their whole musicality. That goes right into you and becomes a part of you. I'm sure every generation says this, but I truly do feel sorry for the kids who will never know what it is like to experience sitting next to the power of Earl Palmer when he's playing with . I get the chills again just thinking about it. And Hal Blaine playing with the Fifth Dimension or Simon & Garfunkel at Studio 3—I'll never forget that; that's a part of me. Also, it's something that I aspire to constantly; I will never be able to play as great as Hal Blaine on "Wedding Bell Blues," the way he played that shuffle. Or "Rip It Up," Earl Palmer. But it's something to aspire to. RF: Harvey, what about your first session? HARVEY: I had a funny situation, because I read a down beat article about studio musicians when I was in high RF: Jeff? school, and I said, "That's what I want to be doing." I was play- JEFF: My first session was with Keltner with Jack Dougherty. It ing clubs, and I rented a studio one summer and went in and was a rehearsal band, and Hal Blaine was the drummer, and played around with my drums, and then I got a job at this place then the contractor called to see if I wanted to do the rehearsal called Triple A Recording. I called them and told them that the band on Saturdays. I did about five of them. I knew they were guy they were using was not happening, [everyone laughs] It planning to do a record, and they stopped calling me for was a really brash thing to do, but at the time I guess I was des- rehearsals, so I figured they were going to use a studio guy for perate. So they told me to come in and work, so I took my own the album. Then Dougherty called me and asked if I had ever drums. Those are my first experiences of making records. I'd heard of a drummer named Keltner. At that time, my biggest get $25 for the day, and I played all the drums and all the per- heroes were Keltner and Gordon. I said yes, and he said, "He cussion. I had quite a bit of confidence when I came out here in just got off the road with , and you and he are going 1970. But I couldn't get arrested as a drummer. So it's a good to do the rehearsal band for a couple of weeks. So we rehearsed thing I played percussion, because I was stuck playing mallets a couple of times before the session. I was 17 and didn't even and percussion. I was working with Quincy and all these people, have my driver's license, so my mom drove me to the session at and I'd say, "You know, I play drums," and they'd say, "So A&M. I borrowed my dad's black diamond pearl Ludwig set, what?" which was just like Keltner's, because I wanted to be just like RF: How did they even know to hire you for percussion? him: I wore a vest like Jim Keltner, I tried to get the heaviest HARVEY: I came here playing drums with , boots I could, because like everyone else has said, you just want- but a guy who came to see the show, who did the Lucille Ball ed to emulate your heroes. Just before I got through the door, I click," just something that could make me comfort- able. It was piano, vocals, and me, and it was a ballad. It was terrible. So I went home and stayed up for days playing to a click track. I was in tears halfway home going, "That's it, I'm outta here. I'll never have anoth- er chance." MIKE: That's a funny thing when you mentioned a click. I was talking to [guitarist] Dean Parks the other day, and he said, "You realize, even back in the late '70s and early '80s, cats weren't used to working with a click track, and if you had just thrown them into a situ- ation with a click track, they would have fallen all over themselves." Everybody was used to just having good time, but everybody has adapted to the new style of what's happened. DENNY: I wasn't even smart enough to ask for a dou- ble-time click, and it was a ballad. RF: Vinnie, how about your first session? VINNIE: My first was a band was so nervous, I threw up right in the corner. Thank God the situation, and we did it up in San tune was this uptempo samba, because my stick was going so Francisco at the Record Plant. fast. I remember Jim sits down next to me, and he looks over to We were there for a long time, me and says, "Man, do you read?" I go, "No," and he said, "I like a couple of months—living don't read that good either, you do the fills and I'll just keep up there. It's funny that you're time." I'm going, "Right!" talking about a click, because I JIM: Tell them what you did, man. don't even think we used a click. JEFF: What did I do? But it was weird because I didn't JIM: He was ridiculous. He was like Vinnie then. know anything about how to JEFF: Come awwwwwwnnnnn! make my drums sound half JIM: He played some of the most inside out shit I've ever heard. decent or anything. I had this old JEFF: Like I said, that was just nerves. I had chops I didn't even Gretsch drumset with Pinstripes know existed that day. and real dead heads. They RF: Any eye-opening revelations about recording? sounded real dead, and I knew it. JEFF: No, nothing eye-opening except that I had to get my time I would listen to the playbacks together and my reading together, [everyone laughs] and say, "These drums soun d horrible. How come they don't RF: Denny? sound like anything I've ever heard?" It was weird because DENNY: I was up in San Francisco, and it was a demo. I got a nobody said to change the heads or anything like that; we just call to play on three songs. They sent me a tape, although it worked with them as they were, which was really strange. I ended up hot being the three songs we played. I had never been haven't heard the record in a long time, but I know I wasn't in a studio, so I called my brother, who was my teacher, and I happy with the sound and I didn't know anything about how to said, "What do I do?" I got out articles and read everything make it any different. At least my time was okay, because I had about these guys in this room—who were my heroes—and I lis- time to get it together, and I would go back in and do it over. But tened to every record I had of them. It actually ended up being I played too much stuff and I wasn't playing like a sideman okay. I remember thinking at the time, "It has to be single would play. When I came to town here, I just started doing heads," so I took all the bottom heads off my drums. Everyone demos, because before machines hit, people were still doing said I had to dampen the drums, so I think I got Pinstripes and demos. I remember a Pages record—and you [Mike] were on taped them up, stuffed the bass drum a lot, and taped my wallet that record too, and you too, Jeff. to the snare drum. But I got there and went, "This ain't hap- JEFF: Don't you remember? I got a phone call on the Pages pening." So I had to undo some of it, but I tried to recreate what record. I couldn't do some dates, and I tried to talk [Jay] I had been hearing. Graydon into using you, but he wouldn't. He had never heard of When I came down to LA. for my first session, it was a differ- Vinnie, and I tried to tell him, "At least you can hear his musi- ent scene. You know, you practice to a metronome, but it was a cality on Joe's Garage." You were doing Karizma at the Baked whole different thing playing to a metronome and then making a Potato, and I said, "You've got to go dig him with Karizma." click feel good. So my first session down here was with a digital Finally Graydon called me up and said, "Okay, I'll try using this click, and I had never heard that before. I didn't know anything guy, but he has to use your drums." Remember? I called you about headphone mixes, so I didn't know about saying, "Turn back and said, "Don't get freaked out, this guy is going to want down the singer, turn down the keyboards so I can hear the you to use my drums because he doesn't know if you know how to tune drums in the studio. So you can do whatever you want to You wind up playing something that's a ballpark thing and they my drums." And Graydon told me, "If it's not happening, you go, "That's it!" have to come the next morning at 9:00 and do the track for VINNIE: It's so subjective that you can't rate yourself: This was free." So I get a call from him at 2:00 in the morning saying, better or worse. "Man, it wasn't happening." It was a shuffle in 7. I got up early RF: Steve, what about your first session? in the morning, and I was flipped out. He played me the track STEVE: It was in New York, which was a whole different scene and I was thinking, "Whoa, I have to do this over?" I looked at from anything I had experienced here. I was probably around 15 Graydon and said, "Where is it rushing?" The song was starting years old on my first session. I think it was a jingle for Charlie to fade down, and Graydon pointed to the monitor and said, Fox. It was just very frightening. The concept of recording was "Right there." I said, "Where?" He said, "The foot, the bass also different; they didn't have multi-track recorders in New drum, it's rushing," and I flipped out. York on that kind of session. I had been working with incredible MIKE: Then I ran into you [Vinnie] at the Roxy and a big scene musicians, but I didn't have any concept of going to tape or what went down because I wound up playing on a couple of tracks, was involved in playing. I remember the drumset was dead. which was when all this was going down, and you were mad at Everything I had previously played on was wide open drums me. I said, "Hey man, I just walked into this situation. I had no with no muffling. Studio playing was a whole other thing. dea what was going on." I had had the same conversation with VINNIE: I ran into Bob Mann the other day, and he said the Graydon. He was telling me that you didn't play consistent, and first session he ever played on was with you and Eddie Gomez. I listened to the track and said, "It STEVE: I think that had to do with trying out the new studio at sounds great." KELTNER: A&R Studios in New York. They wanted to hear what the room VINNIE: I wasn't mad at you; I sounded like, so they hired a band. But that was not really a ses- was upset at him. Those tracks "It's only sion, working for somebody, with music in front of you. I've were good. I was with Gino now that I'm been playing with Bob Mann since I was 12. Here, I think the [Vanelli] during the day and doing first session I did was when I hooked up with that at night. And Gino was even an old man around 1975. The stories that go along with what happened with more demanding, so if he could that band are beyond belief. For instance, they were doing some accept tracks from me, Jay certain- approaching work in the studio, and to keep the plaster from falling on my ly should have; that's what got me. senility that drums, they covered them with a big yellow blanket, almost like The thing was, the tracks were the packing material they use on pianos. Some kid was in the good, and he never explained to I finally don't studio, and he had a piece of that wood doweling, and the kid hit me what he wanted or what he have heart my drums on top of the blanket, and Herb went, "That's the wasn't getting. Everybody was lov- sound I want." So I had to play the entire session with that all ing it. The band went nuts. murmurs before over my drums. [everyone laughs] JEFF: Before this album went The best story was, later on after that band disbanded, he down, you were rehearsing with I go to a wanted to do a record. So we went in to cut this record, Rise, that band, and the buzz around session." which was his most successful record. He wanted to audition, so town was, "Wait until that album he had different rhythm sections in. Abe Laboriel and I showed comes out, because that stuff is progressive and cool. Dig this cat." Vinnie was already every musi- cian's hero who had heard him. Regardless of how many sessions he had done, everybody already knew about him. You had already seen him on Saturday Night Live with Zappa with a yellow Gretsch set going, "What is that shit?" VINNIE: It was painful to go through that, because I wanted to blow. MIKE: There are just some peo- ple you can never please. I'm sure that everybody has replaced stuff that I've played on, and I bet I've replaced stuff that you guys have played on. You walk into a room, you listen to the track, and you go, "What am I supposed to play?" up at the new Studio D. We walked in with no microphones, just each part with no machines. my drumset and his bass, and Herb brought in a little General STEVE: Or those sessions where they make you play your sticks Electric plastic cassette recorder and put it on a stool—in a together and do a click track. Then you play to that. major studio, with engineers in the booth and no microphones. HARVEY: Or doing a record for someone who has died, and He turned on the machine and said, "I want you guys to play all they want to keep the vocal but get rid of the original backing the new dance grooves that you know and categorize them for tracks. But they didn't originally have a click track, so you go in me"—into a cassette machine. He hired us to do the record, and and make one. we walked into the studio and it was freezing. I mean freezing. MIKE: Or they can't play the machine track or any click track There was even condensation on the glass. Alpert liked the way because they need those tracks for your drum track, and the the sounded in the cold, but the studio was so cold that bass player is over here and the guitar player is in another ball- Abe ended up going to the hospital. park, and the vocal is somewhere else, and the keyboard is All of us have these stories, and we all still work with the same spread all in between, and they go, "Make it work!" people, or at least I do. I just learned to understand going in that DENNY: Actually, Mike, I met you when you were doing that. I somebody is looking for something, but they don't really know was doing my first record here, and the producer said, "I'm what they're looking for. doing a session tomorrow night at A&M with Mike Baird; why HARVEY: I went in with one day, and then he had don't you come down and talk to him?" So I came down and me come back for the next two weeks playing everything again, hung out, and you were great. You were doing it for some old individually. Jackson 5 stuff. MIKE: During the scene, one guy had me do a seven- MIKE: Oh yeah, that's right. They found these old tracks that minute tune, with no click, with everyone playing in the room they had cut, and the Jacksons were out of their contract. But with me. Then he said, "Okay, everyone take a break," and then decided they were going to make some money on these I went back and recorded just bass drum for seven minutes, old tracks that were licensed to them. So they rehashed five old then snare drum for seven minutes, then hi-hat for seven min- tracks from Jamerson and Gadson, and the time was all over the utes, and then each tom for seven minutes. place. It was a groove for the time, but for now.... The guy goes, VINNIE: I just did that a week ago, same thing. I was in there "I want something current," and how can you play something for 12 hours. It was with Tony Childs. I'm not saying it was a current with the bass all over the place? bad thing to do it that way, but you know, if you have that much HARVEY: Jeff, I heard down in Florida they were measuring the time, you use that much time. So we were figuring out different distance between your snare drum and your bass drum. parts to play. I'd play the hi-hat part, then the bass drum, or JEFF: It was Gadd, Kunkel, and I think . They went maybe we'd keep the machine bass drum and I'd just play snare the week I went to Florida, to their Middle Ear Studios at drum. It might not be straight backbeat, it might be a little Biscaine Bay. They would have a click going, and they wanted to twisted backbeat; then I'd put a tom part in between and if the make two-bar loops, so they would play the demo of the tune. tempo is just a certain tempo, sometimes it is really hard. They would talk about what they wanted the drum pattern to be MIKE: That's really changed a lot, compared to those days in the verse, the chorus, and the bridge, then they would run when people weren't working with clicks, where you basically tape. They had giant reels of tape like I had never seen before. had to have decent time to play seven minutes, and then replace You'd hear it click for two bars, and then you'd play the down- beat bass drum. You'd hear eight beats, hit a down- beat, and stop. Then Albhy Galuten and Carl Richardson would move the reels of tape by hand over the tape heads. Looking at the meters they could tell if I was behind or ahead of the click. Mind you, they could not tell audibly; they'd have to look at the meters. This took seven minutes, and they'd say, "You're three milliseconds behind the downbeat; let's do it again." So I'd wait for the tape to rewind, hear eight clicks, hit it, there would be seven minutes of measuring, and then I'd hear, "Man, it's close, you're one millisecond over; you overcompensated one mil- lisecond." [Everyone groans] While this was going on, in the back room was some scientist. There were these saw horses with clamps on them. Attached to it was a big brass-encased motor, and it had a brass piece coming out with four allen screws in it. Clamped to the allen screws was a 5A Regal Tip drumstick, and in front of that was an 8x12 tom-tom on a stand, tilted just perfectly so that if you hit middle C on the Fairlight, this arm would hit the drum harder than you could ever hit a drum. But then it would recoil, and just when they would try to program it to come down again, they had these series of lights that went from white to yel- low to green to red, and when it got to green, they would have to reach over and unplug it because the motors were $750 a piece, and they would burn out. On a Fairlight they had a bass drum on a stand that had two rods coming from underneath the riser, bolted onto the footboard. One motor brought the pedal down and the other motor lifted it up so it could come back for another beat. They had two arms on the hi-hat, an arm on the , one on the snare drum, and one on the mounted tom, and the whole con- BAlRD: "No," and the producer is going, "Great." It was horrible. cept was, while Gadd, Kunkel, and MIKE: Jeff and I once had a war going on where we'd be doing I were doing our thing, they had "If a producer all these dates just hours apart, and I'd come in, and there this scientist trying to get this says, 'Play would be stuff drawn all over my drumheads, really graphic, robot to do what we were doing. crude drawings. I cracked up and then I'd go to his date and But the project turned out to be a Vinnie fill,' draw on his heads. This kit of mine became this real legendary too expensive. It just blew our thing—"You've got to see Baird's kit, look at the drumheads, minds, though, watching these or 'Play like look at the floor tom!" people measure milliseconds. Jeff,' I say, So this guy called me up wanting me to do this Christian date. After two hours you'd have a break He said, "Whatever you do, get there early and change those and you'd have a headache and be 'Look, I'll give drumheads, because this artist is so religious she floats through dizzy, then you'd go back and you their phone the room." By the time I got to the gig, I remember I walked in there'd be this mad scientist try- and said, "Hi everybody," and I just see these people turn, and ing to take over your gig. numbers.'" there's dead silence. The artist is staring at my kit, and she VINNIE: That's the ultimate looks at me, her eyes get huge, and she backs away and every- story. body splits. That was it. I filled out a form and left. I blew her RF: Other than the story Jeff told MD last year about leaving the whole session that day, she was ruined; she thought I was the session, have any of you had reason to walk out devil. of a session? RF: What about situations where you're not communicating DENNY: I came close about a month ago. I've blanked on the with the producer? Aside from walking, what do you do? name of the band, but it was described to me as a real techno DENNY: Try your hardest to make it work. band. It was dance music, and they were using a Roland 909 MIKE: The bottom line is we're being paid to do a job, and I . Everything was real small, tight sounds. The feel an obligation once I'm committed to something, unless it's producer wanted to put live drums on it, but the band didn't serious verbal humiliation. really want live drums. They wanted a live player, but they want- JEFF: Exactly. ed more electronic sounds. We're at Capitol, Studio B, which MIKE: I used to stop dates, because if someone burned me on gets the biggest drum sound you can get, while everything else something, I would go off and not let the person off the floor on the tune is real tight and machine-like. The engineer comes until they were just dust. People would say, "Okay, Mike, okay," in and says, "I get drum sounds in ten minutes," and four hours and I would just be livid. People would say, "If you get Jeff, he's later, I'm still on the snare drum. What happened was the pro- pretty temperamental; if you get Baird, God, he'll burn you to ducer lied to the band and said I was going to bring all my elec- the ground." We've all gone through these periods, and we've all tronics, but he had called me up and said, "Don't bring any learned something through them. Now, to me, as long as a pro- electronics." He said, "The band is going to disagree with this, ducer doesn't personally demean me, I'll work with him. but I want the tracks to feel like ." So I'm sitting there play- RF: Isn't there a fine line sometimes where if you give the pro- ing parts like the drummer in U2 would play to these songs that ducer what he wants, you are really compromising yourself? you shouldn't be playing these parts to, and the band is going,

The drumbeat starts before the introductory fanfare Dress," "," and "He Ain't

has faded from the speakers. The audience starts to Heavy, He's My Brother," Hollies material has found a

respond to the beat, some cheering, some applauding, place in public consciousness. The numbers I've men-

some clapping along. The lights flash, swirl, and tioned are only a selection. Different people have dif-

swoop, momentarily illuminating areas of the stage, but ferent favorites. Looking through a list of their record-

keeping the drumkit in darkness. As the fanfare fades ings, you find yourself saying, "Yes, of course, they did

completely, the rhythm from the drums fills the the- that one too."

ater, and the audience response increases in propor- The Hollies originated in a partnership between

tion. Seconds later the lights do pick out the drumkit, singers Allan Clarke and way back in the

and the theater erupts in a crescendo of cheering. It's a early '60s. As they progressed from working the clubs

spontaneous greeting for the man seated behind the to being a hit-making band, their personnel changed,

kit, one of the most perennially popular figures in and they picked up guitarist and drummer

British , Bobby Elliott. The benign figure Bobby Elliott. Their original bass player, ,

sitting high above his drums—with his cymbals seem- was replaced in '66 by Bernie Calvert. The present

ingly set high above him—dominates the drums and bassist is Steve Stroud. Graham Nash left the band at

for a moment the whole auditorium, before the other the end of '68 to work with and Steve

members of the Hollies move forward from the shad- Stills. Nash's position was taken by ,

ows and launch into "Long Cool Woman In A Black who was replaced in the early '80s by Alan Coates.

Dress." Another Hollies concert to a typically packed Today the line-up on stage is completed by Dave Carey

house has begun. on keyboards.

Almost everybody who has been around long enough Clarke, Hicks, and Elliott are the three stalwarts who

to follow British pop/rock since the boom of '63 can have seen the thing through for close to 30 years, and

measure out their lives in Hollies hits. From the early, somehow they haven't lost any of their enthusiasm. It

"Searchin"' and "Stay," which established them as one must stem from satisfaction in still being able to pro-

of their country's top bands, through records like "I'm duce excellent music that delights audiences. Bob

Alive," "" ('65), "Bus Elliott has a very interesting long-term perspective on

Stop," "Stop, Stop, Stop" ('66), "," and the rock 'n' role life. What makes him so good to talk to

"Carrie Ann" ('67), and on to a series of unforgettable is the obvious fun and enjoyment that his career has

'70s songs including "Long Cool Woman In A Black given him. BY SIMON GOODWIN SG: Going back to the begin- I first got into playing with ning, do you remember what other people at a local jazz club. turned you on to drums in the I used to go along for weeks on first place? end trying to get to know the BE: Yes, it was listening to guys and buying the drummer records—often those of big halves of bitter, until eventually bands—when I was a boy. I was he allowed me to sit in. At that attracted by the sound of the time we were living a little way drums, and would concentrate out in the country. The last bus more and more on what they left at 10:30, so if I wanted to sit were doing. I thought, "I'd like in, I had to walk home after- to have a go at this," so I col- wards. It was worth it though; lected a bunch of tins from my playing things like "Girl In mother's grocery shop and put Calico" with trumpet, tenor sax, them around me like tom- piano, bass, and drums was the toms. In the middle there was biggest thrill I'd ever had. I was the Cadbury's "Roses" tin with nervous at first, but when I the lid slightly loose, so that it Drumset: Remo Encore series in gold finish played the reaction was quite rattled like a snare drum. The A. 5 1/2x 14 snare favorable, so I started doing it first two records I bought were B. 8 x 8 tom regularly—and then walking "Nights At The Turntable" by C. 9 x 10 tom between three and four miles Gerry Mulligan, and "Sing Sing D. 11 x 12 tom home. Eventually the drummer Sing" by Benny Goodman with E. 13 x 14 tom had other commitments and on drums, and I'd F. 16 x 16 floor tom moved on, so I moved in with my play along to these on my kit of G. 16 x 22 bass drum smokey Premier kit. It built from tins. there. There was a fairly famous I was fortunate in that I had Cymbals: Paiste jazz club at a place called relatives who were interested. 1. 13" Dark Crisp hi-hats Rawtenstall, and I got the job We also had some neighbors 2. 16" Full crash with the resident band there. It who were a really musical fami- 3. 20" Mellow ride was a quintet, but the rhythm ly. I'd go past their house and 4. 20" Dry ride section would back guests who hear the record player going 5. 22" Novo China came up from London: Don full blast. One of the guys made 6. 18" Mellow crash Rendell, Harold McNair, Eddie a pair of brushes out of lengths Thompson—all the top British of copper wire bound at the aa. Roland PD 31 pads jazzers—and I was on drums. It handle end with insulation was great experience. Don tape. I used to play with these Hardware: All Remo, except for a Pearl TW 880 dou- Rendell came up a few times, on a newspaper to Gerry ble pedal with felt beaters. and on one occasion he said that Mulligan records, convinced Heads: Remo Falams K on snare, clear Ambassadors it was a pity I didn't live nearer that I was sounding like Chico on tops of rack toms, gold Ambassadors on bottoms, London, because he would have Hamilton. This all started for Pinstripes on floor tom and bass drum, with a gold used me regularly. That was me when I was 11 or 12 years Ambassador on bottom of floor tom and an Ebony nice. old, and it just progressed: buy- Ambassador on front of bass drum with a 14" hole cut At the same time I was also ing more records, playing along in it. leaning towards rock. I realized to them, making cymbals out of Sticks: 26 with wood tip. that if you went to a jazz club, baking tins and drilling them to Electronics: Roland S-330 Sampler, Roland PM 16 everybody was sitting around put rivets in. I've always been controller, two Roland PD 31 pads, and Roland 626 looking cool; but if you went to a into putting rivets in cymbals, and CR8000 drum machines. rock show down at the Imperial right the way through to the in Nelson, the girls would all be Hollies. It carried on to the down the front jumping around time I was able to fork out a couple of quid [£2] for my first and screaming. I thought, "This rock thing looks alright to me; snare drum, along with a pair of sticks and brushes. It was perhaps I should get into it!" [laughs] I knew Tony Hicks thanks to my school friend, Bob Palmer, that I bought my first already. Tony was only 14 when I first met him, but he was full drumkit. He encouraged me to borrow £60 from my father already an excellent guitarist. We got together in a band called to buy a secondhand Premier kit. It once had a white pearl fin- Ricky Shaw & the Dolphins. I was now getting quite busy. ish, but by the time I got it, it had changed to a sort of "nicotine Thursday nights was the jazz club, weekends the Dolphins, and yellow." [laughs] some Fridays I would dep [sub] with a big band, the Jimmy Heyworth Orchestra, which played at the Astoria in Rawtenstall. a lot of the Dolphins, was pestering Tony Hicks to join them. He So I was doing jazz, rock, and the big band; I had to try to read resisted at first—it's a complicated story—but eventually Tony the drum charts for that. did join the Hollies, leaving the Dolphins without a guitar play- SG: Were you entirely self-taught at the time? er. I thought, "That's buggered it!" [laughs] because it was a BE: Largely, yes. But at the time I was sitting in at the jazz club, three-piece band. Tony was one of those guitar players who the regular drummer was going into once a week to could play lead and rhythm at the same time; there was nobody have lessons with Bob Turner, who played with the NDO around who could replace him. Anyway, off he went to make a [Northern Dance Orchestra]. Then on the following day I record with the Hollies, but he phoned me up a few days later to would go 'round to his house, and for five shillings he would tell me that Shane Fenton was looking for a drummer. pass on what he'd learned to me. We used the tutor I went down to Stoke On Trent to do the audition, and they book. That was very helpful; it made me realize that there was seemed quite pleased, so I thought I'd got the gig. Then they more to drumming than said, "Can you come to just sitting down and London next week to do playing. So I really another audition, when knuckled under, "got my there will be some other chops together" as they drummers as well?" I was say, and learned all I disappointed, but I decid- could. ed that I ought to go. My SG: Your first fully pro- dad took me down to fessional gig was with London in his van—and Shane Fenton & the we were late! When I got Fentones. there, there were ten or BE: Yes it was, but in twelve guys standing out- the early days I never side holding drumsticks. seriously considered I was at the back of the becoming fully pro. I queue, but I could hear think it was characteris- everything that was being tic of being born in the played inside. By the time North of England; at it was my turn to go in I that time you were knew the numbers per- expected to settle down fectly. So I did the audi- and work at a trade. My tion and got the job. father, who was a skilled I found out later that master cabinet maker, one of those other people didn't put it to me quite in the queue had been like that, but he did say, Keith Moon. When I was "Robert, the drumming in the Hollies and he was is great if you enjoy it, in the Who I got to know but you can't expect to earn a liv- him quite well. It's strange, but ing from it." And actually it took in the early days he used to be me some time to get the confi- Classic Elliott Wax very unsure of himself. Over a dence to see very much potential period of about three years I saw in myself. But I backed some Bobby Elliott chose the following him develop from being a ner- quite well-known jazz artists at as containing examples of his vous little guy to being the fully the club, and then I backed prime Hollies performances. fledged Keith Moon. some pop artists with the So I became a member of the Dolphins—and the reaction was Stop! Stop! Stop! (Imperial LP 12339) Fentones for a few months, always good. Another Night (Epic PE33387) which was a very good experi- Now, at that time, the Hollies, (Polydor [UK] POLTV12) ence. My first gig with them was with Allan Clarke and Graham Rarities (EMI [UK] EMS1311) at The Royal Albert Hall in Nash, were already doing very What Goes Around (Atlantic 800761) London, alongside people like well in the North—following on All The Hits And More...The Definitive Collection Eric Delaney, who is one of our from at The Cavern, (EMI [UK] EM 1301) great British drummers but who that sort of thing. They saw the Hollies Greatest (Capitol N-16056) has never had the recognition he opportunity to go fully pro, but Butterfly ( [UK] PCS7039) deserves. At the end of that show their lead guitarist didn't want everybody stood along the front to. Their manager, who had seen Mark Gauthier is not the kind of person RVH: You are a drummer, an engineer, anybody was this clamp. That's where a you would immediately identify as a pio- and a mechanical designer. How did all lot of the Collarlock designs were born, neer. He's quiet, modest, and not given to these talents come together to make you a but this was made years before Collarlock a lot of fanfare regarding himself or his manufacturer of drum racks? came into actuality. involvement in the development of the MG: My grandfather was a machinist, We also made chain-drive kits for every modern-day drum rack. And this is all the and he taught me a lot about machining pedal in the market. Each of our kits had more admirable, considering that he actu- things. But I never really pursued that. an axle that was identical to the axle of ally has a lot of accomplishments to his My musical career was the first thing; I whatever brand of pedal the drummer credit. got into playing about 20 years ago. I had. We sold mountains of that stuff. But In the ten years that he has been in started teaching drums in 1972.1 did that then all the manufacturers started offer- business, Mark has seen his Collarlock for about four years, and then I went to ing chain drive pedals, and there was no company grow from a backyard operation work for Ray Ayotte at Drums Only, here longer a demand for our conversion kits . creating customized hardware parts to a in Vancouver, Canada. I ran the repair RVH: How and when did the Collarlock manufacturer of innovative drum support department, where my mechanical skills bar system originate? systems distributed world-wide. Along the began to be required more and more. MG: The original prototype was created way, Mark can take credit for several In the last couple of years that I was at in 1978 for a fellow called Rocket Norton industry "firsts"—many of which have Drums Only, I started buying some of the band Prism. He wanted his drums since been adopted by other companies equipment myself and doing some manu- suspended off of something other than and have become standard features on facturing on the side. I incorporated the conventional stands that were avail- almost all drum rack systems. under the name Creative Percussion able. So we got a bunch of North compo- Traditional hasn't Designs, Inc. in 1979. I began to make nents, which had been on the market for undergone much fundamental change prototypes of some support systems, as years, and fabricated a rack system so he since the early drumsets were invent- well as to manufacture various hardware could hang all his toms and cymbals. ed—except perhaps in variety of size and items and accessories for customers. They ended up attaching the micro- weight. And although there were some I know you've reviewed an awful lot of phones, too. Prism played a number of "rail systems" used in the early days by equipment in your day, but do you dates in and around Vancouver, so a lot of trapset drummers to support small toms recognize this part? [Mark holds up a drummers were exposed to the rack and and accessories, the present-day, self-sup- small, "doughnut"-shaped metal object.] wanted the same thing. porting rack system has really only been That's a replacement part I used to make RVH: Obviously it was incumbent upon around for a few years. In that time, racks for Rogers drum thrones. I sold tons and you to meet that demand. have undergone a tremendous amount of tons of them because the die-cast alu- MG: That's right. But we couldn't utilize development in their designs and features. minum part that they employed for the the North system, because it wasn't flexi- And a great deal of that development can height adjustment used to just strip out ble enough for what drummers wanted. be attributed squarely to the efforts of like crazy. Anyway, one of the very first Most drummers want to be able to attach Mark Gauthier. products that I ever manufactured for their cymbals to the rack, but the North BY RICK VAN HORN PHOTOS BY RICHARD HACKETT rack was a very low, small, curved were too expensive to manu- bar that sat below the toms. If you facture—mainly because of were going to suspend any cym- the amount of machining bals, the cymbal arms ended up that was involved—we start- running in between the toms. So ed making them out of alu- we decided to fabricate our own minum. We didn't have a bars and clamps and make a more slippage problem with our flexible type of setup. first aluminum clamps Eventually, my little company either, because we were began to become known for the anodizing the parts and products we were making, which hardening the threads in were called Collarlock Clamps at them to compensate for the the time. I left Drums Only in fact that it was a lighter, 1982, and devoted my full ener- weaker material than the gies to my own products. In steel. We also increased the August of 1984 I decided to amount of surface area that change the name to Collarlock we were clamping with the Canada, to make it synonymous aluminum clamps by making with what we were manufactur- the base side twice as wide. ing. When we first got into RVH: Did you plan to go into manufacturing, what we manufacturing full-time from the were making was really very beginning? heavy-duty. Ludwig was still MG: No. As a matter of fact, I making lightweight stands at originally tried to interest other that point in time; the Atlas major manufacturers in the idea series was the biggest thing of a drum rack. I submitted drafted illus- make something that you could put those they had. Rogers had the heaviest stuff on trations of many of my hardware designs 1" tubes into. And it just seemed to make the market. Pearl's stands had a 1/2" and the original Collarlock clamp series sense to make a clamp for which you upper tube, a 3/4" center tube, and a 7/8" to William F. Ludwig, Jr. in 1980. But our could use 1" as a standard size. base tube. Ludwig and had proposal was rejected, because Ludwig RVH: But all of those stands you're talk- most of the market share in those days, was just tooling up for their Modular ing about are designed to be used in a and they were very light. They hadn't hardware series, and Mr. Ludwig didn't vertical configuration. Your new rack con- even gotten into power toms. So we were see a future in drum racks. cept involved a 1" bar to be used in a hori- dealing with lightweight, conventional RVH: Well, considering that no one had zontal configuration, and on which fairly drums and hardware that everybody had ever marketed such a device before, his weighty items were going to be hung. been manufacturing for years. By com- attitude might be understandable. Most The manner in which the drums were to parison, our stuff seemed very, very beefy. of the major drum companies at the time clamp onto the bar also involved leverage, Of course, that changed. were following the lead of Rogers, with further adding to the weight factor. How We phased out the machined alu- their Memri-Loc modular system. Your did you deal with the likelihood of drums minum clamps—because of the cost of ideas might have seemed pretty radical slipping when held by clamps attached to machining, once again—and got into our back then. a cylindrical bar with such a small diame- first die-cast line. We wanted to offer a MG: Well, they weren't, really. The com- ter? die-cast clamp that looked identical to the panies were trying to combine modular, MG: Well, when we first started making machined aluminum one so that people flexible setups with traditional tripod- rack systems, we made the clamps out of who had already bought those could buy based stands. We were simply doing away steel. You could tighten them up like something that was going to look compat- with some or all of the tripods, by creat- nothing else on this planet. Each clamp ible. So we stayed with the same basic ing a support system that would involve a was a circular device, and when it dimensions. But it wasn't quite as suc- combination of universal components. We clamped around the tubing, the tubing cessful as the previous design had been. drafted up parts, and decided to base the would break before any item slipped. Because it was a die-cast part, it was a system on 1" steel tubing—because at Since that was the case, the relatively weaker material, and we couldn't anodize that time just about every drum manufac- small diameter of our tubing never it to harden the threads. The threads turer was making some piece of hardware became a factor. There was no reason to were cut into the aluminum, and when that was 1" somewhere. The most popu- increase the amount of surface diameter they stripped out that was the end of the lar drum brand at the time made their that we were clamping because we never part. So we phased that out in 1986 and tom holders with 1" down tubes going had a problem with slippage. came up with our new clamping line, the into the bass drum, and we wanted to After we found that the steel clamps Making A Collarlock Bar System

RVH: The Collarlock Bar System is a fairly complicated combination of compo- nent parts—each of which has to be man- ufactured. Do you do everything yourself, or are some parts made for you? MG: The die-casting of component parts, our chrome plating, and our epoxy coating are done outside the shop. All other machine operations and assembly work are done in-house. When you think about it, we are pro- ducing something akin to an automobile chassis. It's the frame that supports everything else, so it has to be sturdy and structurally sound. If you're talking about industrial-strength support, you're going to need industrial-strength machinery. We use metal cutting lathes, milling machines, drill presses, 800-ton presses, welding equipment, and so on. Fast Clamps being drilled by a twin- A bar connector, clamped in a special RVH: How many different component spindle drill head. This creates the jig, has its center hole drilled. parts do you make? holes for the swivel nuts. MG: We make eight sections of bars, five different sizes of Fast Clamps, one Bar Connector, seven different sizes of tom arms, five different sizes of memory clamps, a hi-hat mount accessory, a dou- ble tom holder accessory, two different lengths of our own microphone arms—which are made of nylon instead of steel—and two different types of drumkeys: one tuning key and one tight- ening key. We also make three different styles of leg assemblies: one that looks like a T-shape for support between dou- ble bass drums, a support to go on the end of the side bar assembly, and end support assemblies with cymbal boom mounts included in them. The legs, clamps, and connectors are offered in either a black epoxy coating or a polished aluminum finish. In one lathing operation, a tom arm A sawing operation is performed on a The fundamental element of our sys- has its knurled lines machined on the support clamp. This is one of 13 sepa- tem is the bar. For that, we've always used narrow end of the shaft. rate machining steps necessary to pro- stainless steel tubing—no chrome to peel duce this part. off, no cracking, nothing. It's also stronger than chromed steel. We buy it in ation. What takes us the most time and to 30 machine operations. After our 20' lengths and cut it to size. A lathe is effort are the Fast Clamps, which are the newest version, which is called the Fast used to machine-turn the ends, and then operational heart of the Collarlock sys- Clamp, comes from the die caster, we we place a plastic plug in the end and tem. only need to do one machining operation machine-turn it to match the diameter of When we started making component to it. All we do after that is assemble it. the tube. But even as important as they connectors—which we called Collarlock But we also machine many of the parts are, the bars are the easy part of our oper- Clamps—they required anywhere from 20 that go into that assembly. For example, four times, and we put the flats on with a milling cutter. It's a very expensive part to manufacture, but it's critical in avoiding having the legs stripped out. RVH: And you also manufac- ture the tool used by the drummer to tighten it. MG: Right. When we first had rack systems out, every- A tom arm is bent into a right angle in a bending body was just using conven- machine designed by Mark Gauthier. tional tuning keys to tighten up the clamps—which is just not sufficient because they were designed for tuning drums, not for tightening clamps. So we now supply a Holes are cross-drilled in a support steel key that won't break or clamp, later to be threaded by the strip out and has an L-shape same machine with a threading to give you more torquing attachment. pressure than a conventional T-shaped key. We send them out with a plastic sleeve that we make our own custom-size hex nuts. increases the handle diame- There were no generic nuts on the mar- ter from 1/4" to 3/8" and ket to fit into the size of clamp that we This lathe accounts for approximately 70% of makes it a lot more comfort- wanted to manufacture. And when we Collarlock's machining operations, fitted with up to able on your hand. There are wanted to make one side of the clamp 20 custom attachments and 32 cutting tools. 15 machine operations in- open up so that you could attach it to the volved in manufacturing our bar without taking the entire clamp apart, tubing for the base sections, but our new steel drumkeys, including the use of an we had to design swivel nuts that would leg assembly is made of square stock on 800-ton press to put the square broach allow the clamp top to swivel open and the horizontal member that runs along into the center of it. That operation we the key screw to swing to the side. Then the floor. One reason for this is that it's farm out. we had to have a custom-size spring easier to attach to a riser if you're going We also make our tom arms from made by a manufacturer in another to permanently locate it for a setup posi- scratch. We buy raw steel in 12' lengths province of Canada. We also use a special tion. And aesthetically, people have found and cut it into the various sizes that tom key screw that has the thickest washer in it a little more pleasing because we cut arms have to be. Lathing operations turn the drum industry in order to take the 45° angles on either end of the square the material down to whatever diameters amount of pressure required for tighten- tube and put in what most people feel are are required to mate with the various tom ing the clamp. We have that made in relatively attractive endcaps. We also put brands that are on the market, and then Ohio. We even use a special grease on our rubber feet on the bottom of the tube, the tom arms are either bent or welded screws and fasteners. It's used in the which stop it from slipping across most into an L-shape, depending on if it's automotive industry because it resists plain surfaces. tubular or solid material. For that we use water completely. It can be a little messy, In order to facilitate the way our leg a bender that's the first piece of equip- but it really lubricates the screws proper- assemblies join together, we have to make ment Creative Percussion Design owned iy- our own key screws. We make the largest and the first that I ever built. I made it in So when people wonder why they are drumkey-turned screw in the industry. 1978 for bending little L-shaped pieces paying $35 to $40 "just for a clamp," they It's 3/8" National Coarse thread with a for the chain-drive pedal kits, but need to understand that it's not "just a 3/16" washer face on it to take all the pres- throughout the years it's been adapted for clamp." It's a complicated and very care- sure that anybody could exert on it. We probably half the products that we manu- fully designed piece of machinery. machine it ourselves from 9/16" stock. The facture. It's attached to the concrete floor RVH: Besides the parts that go into the cylindrical portions and the threads are with 3 1/2" bolts. We had 2 1/2" initially, and Fast Clamps, what else do you machine cut on a rotary lathe. A separate machin- we pulled the vice out of the floor. Steel is here? ing operation done on the milling tough stuff to bend. MG: Our leg assemblies are machined machine is required to square off the 100% in-house. We used to use round head. A dividing head rotates the piece

Corder Celebrity Drumkit

• by Rick Van Horn

One of the joys of doing product reviews is that occasionally you discover a product that genuinely exceeds your expectations. So it was with the Corder Celebrity drumkit. You may have seen Corder's ads in MD—fairly small, black & white, and not particularly splashy or compelling—and from these you may have gotten the impression that the company and its drums were not in the "big leagues" in terms of quality. Well, impressions can sometimes be deceiving. It's undeniably true that the Corder Drum Company is not in the big leagues more like a lacquer finish than a "plastic well-made maple drums: full, round, and when it comes to factory size, production covering." In fact, it fooled me completely warm. The toms had a powerful, singing output, advertising budget, and other until I actually touched the drums. I was sound, with surprising sensitivity at lower aspects common to major manufacturers. impressed by the nature of this Formex volumes, even when fitted with Pinstripe But after playing their drums, I can (which is a Formica-style material as batter heads. unequivocally state that they take a back opposed to the more familiar, thinner The bass drum offered loads of bottom seat to no one when it comes to quality of plastic coverings used by many other with plenty of attack. I played it with an construction and sound. And when it companies.) Gloss black covered finishes intact front head and a Pinstripe batter, comes to innovation, this quiet little com- in plastic stand an equal chance of look- and enjoyed the depth and projection the pany from Alabama offers some features ing either really great or really cheap; this drum offered. It might have been a tad that are both exciting and unique. satiny black Formex finish looked rich. "boomy" for some applications, but you I tested a standard five-piece kit, The lugs on Corder drums are from can always muffle a drum down. The including 8x12 and 9x13 rack toms, a the Fibes design of days gone by, because trick is to find one that starts with reso- 16 x16 floor tom, a 14 x 22 bass drum, and a Corder bought all the tooling and molds nance and volume to spare, and this 4x14 snare (an odd size, but the one that when Fibes went out of business in the drum certainly had both. Corder states is currently their best sell- late '70s. Somewhat diamond-shaped, The snare drum was crisp, sensitive, er). Corder only offers one type of shell: they are simple and attractive. The plat- and responsive, with a reasonably wide 6-ply all-maple, with no reinforcing rings. ing on all the hardware is excellent. tuning range for a 4"-deep drum. I found that I preferred it at a medium tension; at The Look Sound that point it cut well without being obnoxiously sharp. Snare sensitivity was The drums were covered with a satiny The sound of the Corder drums was excellent, owing substantially to Corder's black Formex covering, which looked the sound you would expect from any fairly unusual snare throwoff design. Another holdover from Fibes, the strainer tile bass drum shell mount I've ever seen. maintain durability and prevent stripping. uses a positive-action mechanical Rather than having a hole through which Although not included on my test models, throwoff, similar in nature to a parallel- a down post passes through the bass Corder offers stands with tilting options, action model. However, there are no rods drum shell, the base plate of the mount is including a snare stand with a "dog- or frames passing through the drum. solid. A slot in this base plate corre- bone" connection built in, allowing it to Instead, an oversize set of wire snares sponds with an upper plate that can slide go incredibly low (for oversize drums) or extends beyond the bottom head on back and forth. To this plate is attached be positioned up and away at an angle either side of the drum, and attaches to the down post for the double tom mount. (perhaps for a secondary piccolo drum). the throwoff at one side and the butt That post offers several inches of height The hi-hat was smooth and functional, plate at the other, via machine screws. adjustment; pivoting "shoulders" con- with a single external adjustable spring. Throwing the snare release lever simply taining ball-and-socket L-posts complete The bass drum pedal didn't look particu- pushes down on the snare set, lowering it the mount and give a tremendous amount larly high-tech, but it too was eminently away from the bottom head. It works of positioning flexibility. functional: chain-driven, quiet, light- extremely well, and offers the added The advantage of the sliding track is weight, and very quick. When I men- security of not having any string or tape that you can put your bass drum where it tioned to Jim Corder that the yoke and strip to break at a critical moment in your is comfortable for your leg length, and footplate were not very highly buffed, he playing. The nice thing about this design adjust the distance to your rack toms explained how that would increase the is that you can either use the oversize independently. If you like to sit up close pedal's cost but wouldn't make a bit of wire snares (available through Corder at a to your toms, but have your bass drum difference to its performance—so why do price comparable to anybody's replace- well away from you (or vice versa), you it? I must say, I find that attitude refresh- ment snares), or you can use standard- can do it easily with this mount, without ing. length snares with strings or tape if you having to affect the other elements of the wish; the throwoff can accommodate that toms' position (such as angle and dis- Conclusion method of attachment as well. tance between each drum). It's simply a terrific idea, and it works very well. And Essentially, what we have here is a pro- Hardware you get the added advantage of not having fessional-level drumkit that sounds a large hole drilled in the shell; four small extremely good, but that nobody knows It's in the area of hardware that Corder bolts hold the base plate in place. very much about. It's my hope that this offers some unique design elements— Avoiding holes in the shell also comes review will help to change that, because plus one feature that is becoming more into play with the bass drum spur design. drummers should be aware of the quality and more important to drummers today. The spurs on the drum neither disappear and innovation available from this family- That feature is that Corder makes 99% of into the shell nor fold back against it. owned and operated American company. its own hardware—stands, lugs, snare They are designed to be inserted into And lest it be overlooked, let me hasten to strainer, etc.—right in its own plant in permanently attached tubular recepta- add that the drums are priced competi- Alabama. What they don't do themselves cles, and are removed completely for tively, too. The five-piece Celebrity kit I (some molding and plating, for instance) pack-up. The receptacles are long tested lists for $2,195, making it extreme- is also done in the USA, generally by enough to hold the spurs firmly, yet short ly appealing to drummers who seek quali- companies right in Corder's neighbor- enough not to interfere with casing up ty equipment, but don't want to pay addi- hood in the South. At this point, the only the drum. They are attached to the shell tional money for a nametag. imported items are a collar component with small bolts, and once again prevent Since they are currently a fairly low- for some of the stands, and the rubber the need for large holes in the bass drum profile company, Corder drums are not feet used on all the stands—and Corder shell. available for you to check out in every is searching for a domestic source for There's nothing particularly unusual local drumshop. But you can ask your those as you read this. When Corder says about Corder's stand designs, but there dealer to look into them for you, or you that their drumkits are "American- are some nice construction elements. All can contact the company directly for fur- made," they mean it! the height adjustment points feature ther information. (They'd love to hear The kit I tested is provided with a nylon bushings surrounded by steel from you.) The address is 3122 12th snare stand, a hi-hat, two straight cymbal bands, so that the wing bolts can never Avenue, S.W, Huntsville, Alabama 35805, stands, and legs for the floor tom and the crush the bushing, yet height adjustment (205) 534-8406. bass drum. The rack toms are supported is always solid. The collars and wing bolts by Corder's exceptional Slide-Track used at those same adjustment points are mount, which is probably the most versa- of solid steel, rather than cast metal, to end. However, there are Remo Legacy a couple of differences. First, in terms of over- tones, while the Legacy heads have less highs than comparable Am- Drumheads bassadors, Diplomats, etc., they aren't quite as muted-sounding as by Rick Mattingly Fibreskyns are. Second, Fibreskyn heads tend to Remo recently introduced a line of drum- suffer from a lack of heads called Legacy, which are available sustain. In fact, I've in four different models: LD (Diplomat; never really liked Fibre- thin), LA (Ambassador; medium), LE skyns on tom-toms for (Emperor; heavy), and LP (Pinstripe). that very reason. (I've The heads are coated with a new lami- Photo fay Rick Mattingly used them a lot on snare nate called Reemlar, which, the company never use a Pinstripe on the snare.) In drums, however.) The Legacy heads, states, "produces spectacular tonal depth that regard, I was able to use the LP over though, seem to have just as much sus- and resonance, combined with excellent a full range of tom sizes and get compa- tain as the "regular" heads. response and the feel of a coated brush rable results. Just for the sake of experimentation, I surface." So what's different about the Legacy put regular Ambassadors on the tops of heads? Essentially, the coating mutes the my toms and tried various Legacy heads Tom-Toms heads somewhat so that there is not as on the bottom. I found them to be a little wide a range of overtones produced. too dry for that particular application. I began by using the Legacy heads as Compared to a regular coated Ambas- The toms sounded a little thin to me batters on tom-toms. As a control, I used sador, the LA has less highs, with the compared to the way they sound with reg- regular Diplomats on the bottoms, chang- midrange being emphasized. The result ular Diplomat bottoms. Of course, for ing only the top heads. Overall, the differ- is that the toms seemed to have a more drummers who tend to muffle their toms ences between the different Legacy distinct pitch with the Legacy heads. quite a bit, these heads might be perfect. heads are comparable to the differences That also held true for the LD and LE you would find between Diplomats, models compared to regular Diplomats Snare Drum Ambassadors, Emperors, and Pinstripes. and Emperors. The LD head favored higher pitches, the Again, the LP heads were in a class of Again, in many respects the Legacy LA worked well in the mid-range, and the their own. Pinstripe heads have never had heads responded in a similar fashion to LE and LP were best suited for lower a lot of highs to begin with, so I can't say their regular counterparts: the LD pitches. While I wouldn't have any trouble that I noticed a lack of them in the LP favored higher tunings and was the most using the LA heads on all of my toms, I head. However, some of the extreme bot- sensitive; the LA worked well over the don't think I'd use an LD on anything tom end seemed to be missing. The LP widest range and still had good sensitivi- bigger than a 12" tom, and I only really heads just didn't have the same warmth ty; the LE favored lower pitches and liked the LE on my 16" floor tom. But this as the regular Pinstripe heads. But that's lacked a little bit of sensitivity. And is exactly why I applaud Remo for apply- not necessarily a drawback; again, the although I've never favored Pinstripes on ing the Legacy idea to a full range of pitch seemed to be more focused, so LP snare drums, I tried the LP anyway and heads, so that one can match head thick- might be just what someone is looking found it to be an improvement over the nesses with tuning preferences and still for who feels that regular Pinstripes can regular version. I suspect that the differ- have a set of heads with the same basic sound too muddy at times because of all ence is in that lack of extreme lows that I sound characteristics. the low-end. Also, I detected slightly mentioned in the tom-tom head review, As for the LP, I've never been one to more impact sound with the LP head, as well as in the increased impact sound. mix Pinstripes with other types of heads; which some drummers could find desir- Of the four heads, it was still my least it's either all Pinstripes or none. (I'm only able. favorite on the snare drum, but I could at talking about tom-toms. I might use a In some respects, the Legacy heads least see using the LP on a snare drum, Pinstripe on the bass drum without any resemble the Fibreskyn 2 line, in that where I wouldn't use an ordinary Pin- other Pinstripes on the kit. Conversely, I those heads also tend to have less high- stripe. In terms of response, the Reemlar the type you usually get on heads as soon sador and Pinstripe heads. The reduction coating seems to benefit the heads. I as you play on them. This would seem to of high-end overtones is obviously desir- hadn't noticed it on the toms, but when I speak well for the durability of the lami- able in a bass drum head, so in that cranked the LD and LA heads up on the nate. Also, after quite a bit of brush play- respect these heads are well-suited for snare drum and tried playing orchestral- ing, I saw no evidence of the coating this application. type buzz rolls, the sticks felt as if they wearing down. In regards to the LP batter, it had a dif- were bouncing better than usual. I To test this further, I put the LA head ferent feel than a regular Pinstripe, in that attribute this to the fact that the laminate on my snare drum and used it for a three- the beater seemed to rebound off of it adds a degree of stiffness to the head, hour rehearsal and two four-hour jobs rather than sink in. Also, there was more which would cause the stick to rebound with a rock band. The head is just start- of an impact sound, which many drum- faster. ing to show some evidence of having been mers will favor. Again, I attribute both of I was interested to see how the tex- played, but it looks as if it's been played these characteristics to the extra stiffness tured surface would work with brushes. I for a few minutes rather than several the laminate gives the head. started with regular wire brushes on the hours. Also, although I had to tighten it a I experimented with various types and LD head and immediately ran into a couple of times during the first hour that degrees of muffling, ranging from a problem. There were a couple of spots on I had it on the drum, after that it held its Muff'1 to different numbers of felt strips the head where the coating was especially tension quite well. I was slamming back- to a pillow. In terms of overall ring, the thick, and individual wire strands often beats pretty hard during both of those results were fairly consistent with what I got caught as I moved the left-hand brush gigs, but I didn't have to tighten the head would expect with a regular Ambassador in a circular swish. I switched to the LA once. and Pinstripe combination. But along head, and I didn't have as much trouble, with that, keep in mind what I said about as the coating seemed to be more evenly Bass Drum the pitch being more focused, the differ- applied on this particular head. But that's ent feel, and the added impact. not to say it was perfect. The coating has The Legacy bass drum heads are avail- a definite "grain" to it (almost as though able only in LA and LP models. Accord- Conclusion it were applied with a paint brush), and ing to Lloyd McCausland at Remo, the the brushes continued to occasionally get LD weight was considered too thin to be After all of their emphasis in recent caught up when I moved them against the practical for bass drum use, and the LE years on products ranging from drumsets grain. prototypes didn't sound all that different to Spoxe to Putty Pads, it's nice to see But then I tried a couple of different from the LPs. So, the company is only Remo being innovative again in the area nylon brushes (Calato's Ed Thigpen offering the two models, and we were that originally put the company on the model and Vic Firth's Rock Rake), and I sent one of each in the 22" size for review. map: drumheads. The Legacy series def- had no problem at all. The extra texture Given current tastes in bass drum initely fills a gap between Diplomats, of the Legacy heads worked well with the sounds, it's not easy to review a bass Ambassadors, Emperors, and Pinstripes extra thickness of the nylon strands, and drum head. Consider: It's not uncommon on one end and Fibreskyn 2 on the other. together they produced a very pleasing to stuff a pillow in the bass drum, with For drummers who have gone back and sound. It was somewhat mellower than both heads being heavily muffled. Anoth- forth between, say, Ambassadors and the sound of wire brushes on a regular er popular option is to use something like Fibreskyns, looking for something in coated Ambassador, but it was also loud- a Muff'1 against the back head and cut a between, Legacy might be the answer. er. I've liked the feel of nylon brushes hole in the front one. Given conditions In terms of price, Legacy LD, LA, and ever since I first used them, but because such as these, who can say just what the LE heads list about 20% higher than the strands were so wide, I couldn't head itself sounds like? comparable models from the Weather always get a good, traditional "swish" Nevertheless, I had to come up with King series (Diplomats, Ambassadors, sound from them. The Legacy heads some basis for evaluation, so for starters, and Emperors); LP models are priced have solved this problem; I may never go I put the LP on the batter side of the bass about 20% higher than clear Pinstripe back to wire brushes again. drum and the LA on the front. As I sus- sizes. Representative LD, LA, and LE One final observation: I played on all of pected, there was too much ring for any- prices are as follows: 12" batter - $16.50; these heads for quite a while, using both one to consider using such a combination 14" batter - $18.00; 16" batter - $20.00; sticks and brushes, and yet none of the without any damping whatsoever. And yet, and 22" bass drum batter - $38.00. Prices heads showed any indication of having the heads did share a characteristic with for LP models are: 12" batter - $18.50; been played. Granted, I was using a new the Legacy tom heads in that the pitch 14" batter - $20.25; 16" batter - 22.50; and pair of sticks, so dirt wasn't a factor, but seemed a little more focused than it 22" bass drum batter - $42.75. there still were not any "scuff" marks of would have been with regular Ambas- there really is a difference. In fact, I even gave myself a sort of "blindfold test," Vic Firth picking up 5As and Dejohnettes without looking to see which was which, and I could tell the difference by the way they felt. That extra quarter inch is at the butt Signature of the stick, where the most wood is any- way, and it does affect the balance. By having just a bit more wood at the end, the front of the stick tends to feel a little Drumsticks lighter (although it really isn't). I often use a Firth 5A myself, so I am very famil- iar and comfortable with the feel of that • by Rick Mattingly stick. But I quickly found myself prefer- ring the Dejohnette stick. So it would Putting well-known drummers' names on seem that I owe Vic and Jack an apology sticks goes back at least as far as Jo Jones for doubting their integrity. This really is and Gene Krupa, but in those days, the a different stick. stick itself was usually a standard produc- For heavy rock players with large kits, tion model, and the drummer's name was the Tommy Lee signature model should on it simply to acknowledge that this was prove popular. It is a full 17 inches long, the stick he used, and to give that model Photo by Rick Mattingly which could come in handy if you have a some extra prestige. But the stick would Firth's own 5A model. Most of Firth's lot of drums and cymbals and have trou- often carry its regular designation as well sticks feature a somewhat acorn-shaped ble reaching some of them. It is also as the drummer's name, for instance Jo bead; the tip of the stick extremely fat and heavy, and should stand Jones/ 11A. is a bit more oval. Of course, it's the up to the hardest playing. The stick has a Vic Firth has been putting drummers' other end of the stick that is so unique. large, red nylon tip that produces a very names on sticks for the past several years, For players who like to use the butt end, full sound on drums as well as cymbals. starting with his stick, and the Appice stick has a large bead down The Steve Smith stick seems well-suit- subsequently adding models named for there, too. It's the kind of bead you might ed for a person who divides his or her such artists as Harvey Mason, Peter Ersk- find on a 3S marching stick, but without time between jazz and rock playing, as ine, , and Dave Weckl. But all the weight and bulk of the stick itself. Steve does. When I first saw the stick, I these sticks were all different in some Overall, the Appice model resembles a was reminded of the stick that Ippolito's way than the regular catalog models. slightly beefed-up 5A. Professional Percussion Center in New They were a little longer or shorter, a lit- Another new Firth model sports Gregg York used to make for . Both tle fatter or thinner, had a different bead, Bissonette's signature. It's a big stick, sticks feature a long, oval bead. The and so on. The input of the artist was slightly larger all around than a 2B, and Smith stick, however, is just a little fatter obvious, making the signature on the would be perfect for someone who plays than the Elvin Jones stick, and also has a stick actually stand for something. in a loud band. It has a fat, acorn-shaped little more body than the typical jazz Recently, Firth added five new signature bead, and the shoulder and neck are stick, such as a Firth 8D. The stick actu- models to his already impressive list of especially heavy. ally feels a lot like another Firth signature names. The Jack Dejohnette model is virtually model, the Peter Erskine stick, with the The Carmine Appice stick is the most identical to a regular Firth 5A, except that difference being in the bead. Where the distinctive, but in a certain sense it is also Jack's stick is just slightly longer—about Erskine stick brings out the lower over- the least "new" of the bunch, as Calato a quarter of an inch. I must confess that I tones of a cymbal by virtue of its small, has offered this stick for several years. was skeptical about this stick when I first round bead, the Smith stick will bring out The Firth version of the stick is virtually saw it. Being so close to a 5A, I couldn't more highs. A drummer could easily identical, with one major exception. The imagine that it would feel any different. It switch back and forth between these two Calato model had a nylon tip; Firth's looked to me like nothing more than a 5A models to get different cymbal sounds Appice stick has a wood tip, which Firth's with a famous drummer's name on it. without noticing an appreciable differ- brochure describes as a "conventional But then I spent some time on a practice ence in feel. For more rock-oriented play- 5A." The only distinction I would make is pad switching back and forth between the ers, the stick has enough body that it that it is not exactly the tip found on Dejohnette stick and a Firth 5A, and should hold up well, and the neck is rea-

sonably fat. Extremely hard hitters might battery or an AC adapter (not included). want something a little fatter, but for The obvious advantage of the Song- someone who needs a stick that is light Starter is that, since many different tem- enough for those times when finesse is pos are programmable, you don't have to called for, but that also has enough fiddle with any controls when calling up weight to deliver a solid whack, the Steve tempos for the next tune. Just put the Smith model would be worth checking SongStarter within reach on the floor, out. give it two quick clicks with your foot, and All of the sticks reviewed here are it goes to the next tune, displaying the priced at $9.00 per pair, with the excep- song number and its tempo, then flashing tion of the Tommy Lee model, which sells out (or clicking through your phones) the for $9.25. proper tempo. The SongStarter is a fairly rugged little box, akin to an effects pedal, and features brother is coming out with a new type of a non-sliding rubber base and a tough snare drum. The IMPAC snare replace- pedal. Programming it is easy, and using ment might be something you'll want to Nady it is just as simple. In the Practice mode try before you give up on your old snare. it will "perform" a given tempo until you What's so special about the IMPAC? turn it off. In the Play mode it will beat Well, it's a well-conceived, well-con- out the tempo 16 times, which should be structed unit that offers a bit more quali- SongStarter enough for you to get a handle on it. After ty to the underside of your snare than these 16 beats, the light and LED display your usual snare strainer. The design is will shut off, and the Starter will auto- simple and effective: Eighteen snare matically advance to the next tune's strands are individually mounted at both • by Adam Budofsky tempo. This is a nice touch, since it ends of a frame, with equal tension on leaves you with even less to worry about each strand. The frame itself protects the in a performance situation. But just be snares (which is nice when putting the careful. If you don't get the tempo within drum in and taking it out of a case), and those 16 beats, the starter will go on to because it's a solid unit, it's very easy to the next tune, and you will have to pedal install on the drum. your way forward through 32 tunes to get According to the manufacturer, the it back on course again, which isn't a very IMPAC "eliminates choking, buzzing, rapid procedure. and snare slap, increasing the drum's A combination of existing technology power and sensitivity." It's nice when a rather than a real "invention," the Nady product lives up to the manufacturer's SongStarter is nonetheless an excellent description. The snare drum I mounted idea that works well. It retails at $119.95. it on already had a nice sound, but with the addition of the IMPAC, it immediately became a much more sensitive drum. Playing rolls up near the rim of the drum Nady's SongStarter is basically a souped- IMPAC Snare had a lot more snare response, and the up electronic metronome that allows feel of the drum seemed a bit better. drummers (or any other instrumentalists, Also, the "decay" of the snares after I for that matter) to program the tempos of struck the drum was much more uniform up to 32 songs, and immediately call Replacement and even. Because of the IMPAC's design, them back up for either practicing or per- there's no "pulling" tension on the snare forming situations. As with many wires themselves—only how much the metronomes, the tempo can be either vis- entire unit is tensioned against the head. ible via a flashing light, or audible by • by William F. Miller That allows the snare wires more free- headphones (through a 1/4" jack in the dom so the drum doesn't choke. unit's side). Tempos are adjusted with an Drummers are spending a lot of money If you're not happy with the sound and up-down rocker switch, and the these days on expensive "designer" snare feel of your current snare drum, the metronome can be powered either by a 9V drums. At this point everybody and their IMPAC may be a comparatively inexpen- sive solution. The list price for the resemble each other, and there is little or With so many drummers playing in loud IMPAC is $24.95 (Canadian funds). For no difference in the neck size or stick sil- settings these days, it's nice to have a further information contact Scorpion houette between nylon- and wood-tipped model that offers a normal gripping area Products, 195 Clearview Ave., Suite 716, sticks. As a result, the feel of a given (to avoid blisters) and a butt end to hit Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 6S1, Canada. model in your hand doesn't change if you with. change tip types. The two maple models available are Vater designs its sticks with the shoul- interesting. The Blazer is very nearly the der area slightly "beefed up" in an effort same size as the 2B, but feels much to "increase the power of your stroke" lighter and quicker to play with, owing to and to reduce breakage at the neck of the the lower weight of maple. (This was a Vater personal favorite of mine.) The Concert is stick. In playing terms, this means that even on lighter-weight, medium-duty as big around as the 2B, 1/4" longer, and sticks such as the Manhattan 7A or LA. less tapered—giving a respectable 5A, you get a lot of impact power, but not amount of impact. Its round tip also Drumsticks as quick a rebound as with sticks with a seemed to focus that impact well on both more gradual taper. This could be good drums and cymbals. This might appeal to or bad, depending on your playing tech- drummers who like to play with a big • by Rick Van Horn nique. stick but don't like to feel like they're Although Vater is not offering as many swinging a bat. models as some In terms of quality, the selection of other brands do, sticks that we were sent was straight and the line offers well-balanced throughout. The finish on sticks to cover just the sticks is consistent—and min- about any need. imal—giving a very natural feel and sure The more tradi- grip. The sticks were as durable as you tional sizes, such would expect premium wooden sticks to as the LA. 5A, 5B, be. The bottom line is that Vater is offer- 2B, and 3S, will ing a quality series of sticks with some feel familiar to interesting models that give drummers those used to such still more choices for the tools of their models. There's trade. Vater's sticks are priced at $7.65 only one small, per pair, regardless of model, tip, or wood "jazz" stick: the type. Manhattan 7A, which is offered only in hickory (to Photo by Scott G. Bienstock keep the weight After years of turning custom-made and down) and sounds very nice at low vol- private-label drumsticks for individual umes on a ride cymbal. Other models drummers, retail stores, and even some worthy of note include the Fatback 3A other drumstick brands, Vater is now and Rock models, both of which feature offering a complete line of drumsticks round tips and medium-sized shanks. under its own name. Although the line is (The Rock is a bit longer.) These pro- not extensive, several models are available duced solid sounds on toms and snares, in either oak or hickory versions. Vater while not sounding too "clunky" on cym- makes a point of the fact that their oak bals. They'd work well for fairly high-vol- sticks are made of American oak, as ume electric jazz or , or for unmiked opposed to "imported" oak, stating in club playing when extra projection is their brochure that American oak "does desirable. not have the 'brittle shock' usually For heavy hitters, Vater offers the attributed to oak sticks." Two additional Nightstick, which is only a shade bigger models are offered in maple. around than a 2B but is a full inch longer. All models, with the exception of the Then there is the Hammer, a double- Hammer double-butt stick, come with butt-ended stick with no taper. The either wood or nylon tips. Worthy of men- diameter is about the same as a tradition- tion is the fact that the nylon and wood al 5B, which isn't huge or clumsy, but the versions of each stick tip very closely butt end gives plenty of impact power.

one MIDI In, two MIDI Outs, and nine that indicate which of the nine triggers inputs. The MIDI Outs can was just hit. This bar graph is nice; it KAT takes away some of the number mystery merge all data from the MIDI In. (I'll mention here that you can engage or dis- of MIDI for the basic-level operator. For engage this merge function by pressing the more advanced user (or real glutton midi K.I.T.I. "save" and "down arrow." This is not in for punishment), KAT has provided con- the manual, so jot it down if you think version tables in the manual showing you might be purchasing a K.I.T.I. There exactly where each LED reading puts you are times when the merge function will numerically. • by Ed Uribe be helpful, but if you aren't using it, it's better to have it off—or else the resulting The "Auto-Train" Function Being familiar with the KAT Mallet MIDI loops could send you off to MIDI Controller and the drumKAT—both of hell.) The front panel has five push-but- The "auto-train" function provides you which have become mainstays in the ton switches: Select, Up, Down, Save, with an automatic means to set some of MIDI percussion world—I was anxious and Auto—with which you perform all your triggering parameters. All of these to get my hands on the new "toy" from functions. settings can then be individually adjusted KAT: the midi K.I.T.I. "K.I.T.I." stands There are three groups of LEDs to to suit your specific needs. There are for "KAT Intelligent Trigger Interface," indicate your selected function, trigger, three basic settings to be achieved in the and the unit is just that: an interface and what you are doing to it. All of this is "auto-train" mode. They are: from your triggers or pads to your tone shown in a bar-graph for- (1) MIDI channel and generators (drum machines, samplers, or mat by the LEDs. I must "While it may note number auto-train. synthesizers). It has none of the MIDI- admit that my first re- (To do this you need to controller capacities of the drumKAT or sponse to this front panel be 'low-end' connect a MIDI Out from the Roland PAD-80, such as large RAM, was, "There must be your drum machine or pedal inputs, layering, panning, or dozens of hidden jobs to in terms of synth to the MIDI In of the dynamic note shift. Designer Bill Katoski memorize under each of K.I.T.I., and a MIDI Out told me, "We were trying to make a 'low- these buttons. This will features and from the K.I.T.I. to the end' unit to meet the requests of drum- take hours to learn, and I'll MIDI In of your drum mers who were telling us, 'I just want to never memorize them all!" memory, in machine, and you must put a trigger on my kick and snare and Well, what a pleasant sur- have the merge function trigger sounds from my Alesis drum prise: The K.I.T.I. is a terms of engaged.) Hit a button on machine; I don't need a fancy unit.'" tremendously user-friendly your drum machine and Well, I can certainly appreciate that, but unit. The entire front panel triggering the the K.I.T.I. will receive and when he said "low-end," I had to stop is clearly labeled, and store the MIDI channel him. I had just put the K.I.T.I. through everything makes sense. midi K.I.T.I. is and note number at the the triggering "wringer," and while it You can see exactly where trigger location you have may be "low-end" in terms of features you are and what you are totally 'pro.'" selected. This is a quick and memory (and, to its credit, also in doing, and you can get from and easy way to get your price, size, and overall simplicity of use), one function to another desired voices assigned to in terms of triggering—which is what it's quite easily. the triggers. meant for—I found the unit to be totally (2) Gain auto-train "pro." The LEDs mode. In this mode you are asked for a medium-hard Basic Overview There are three groups of hit. The KI.T.I. will auto- LEDs on the front panel. On the left are matically set a gain (amplification) read- The K.I.T.I. measures approximately 17 red LEDs that indicate your MIDI and ing of your trigger. It may deem that your 8" x 9" x 1" to 2" and weighs about four triggering settings. They're numbered 0 gain needs to be increased or decreased, pounds. It's not rack-mountable, but is to 16, and each has one of the KI.T.I.'s in which case it will ask you to repeat the certainly very compact and portable, and functions written next to it. On the top process until a gain has been accepted. a bracket is available for mounting it on a right are two yellow LEDs that guide you (3) Trigger envelope auto-train. In this tom or . It is powered by a through the "auto-training" mode. On mode, the K.I.T.I. basically samples the 9-volt AC adapter. The back panel has the bottom right are nine green LEDs envelope of two hits that you are asked to enter: one soft—to set the bottom end of your dynamic range—and one hard—to set the top end. The K.I.T.I. then deter- mines the related parameters, such as threshold, mask time, and minimum and maximum dynamic (all of which I will explain in detail in the next section). Although these features are great to get you started and save you set-up time, these settings will only get you in the ballpark (except for MIDI channel and note numbers, which are finite settings). You are not going to trigger a full kit with triggers using only the "auto-train" parameters. But the great thing about this unit is that you can fine-tune each of these settings to really get your triggers doing exactly what you want. The K.I. T.I. also provides you with default settings in three different ways. You can enter settings for an entire kit, for only one trigger within a kit, or for the particular parameter you happen to be working with. With this capability, you triggers within each kit. All of these set- your velocity curve. Without getting too have something to fall back on if you get tings can then be stored into a kit config- technical here, velocity curves are basi- stuck. You simply call in the default set- uration. cally a correlation of how fast (and in ting, and you're back in the ballpark, and Each one of these jobs is spelled out which way) the sound gets louder as you soon you'll be zipping around all of the next to one of the 17 red LEDs. Jobs 0 hit harder. manual settings. This is great, since through 8 are the triggering settings, jobs The K.I.T.I. provides you with 16 veloc- "getting stuck" is usually what keeps 9 through 15 are the MIDI settings, and ity curves. This is a lot to choose from, someone from further exploring a unit job 16 is the kit selection function. although most of them have very special- and benefitting from its more advanced Selecting and tweaking each parameter ized functions (such as playing very loud functions. couldn't be easier. You simply press and or very soft all the time, reverse hold "Select," then use the up or down curves—which start high and drop as The MIDI And arrows until the red LED next to the your velocity increases—and some curves Triggering Parameters function you want is lit. Release "Select" with some very distinct plateaus in the and increment or decrement as needed, wave form). These might be good if Beyond the "auto-train" mode, there using the arrows. By the way, this is a you're only trying to play with two or are 16 parameters to be manually set on three-finger operation, so you can hold a three very distinct and consistent dynam- the K.I.T.I. KAT divides these into two stick and hit your trigger with one hand, ic ranges. In general, you will probably groups: the MIDI parameters and the while adjusting your settings with the find curves 8 and 9 to work best for over- triggering parameters. The MIDI param- other. This way you can hear the effect of all playing. These were designed to work eters are: channel, note number, mini- your adjustments to each trigger as you best with piezo triggers and pads, and mum velocity, maximum velocity, velocity make them. will capture your dynamic ranges most curve, gate time, and program change. The MIDI functions are the basic smoothly. The triggering parameters are gain, peak functions that are needed for interfacing Next, you can set your gate time, which view, threshold, mask time, minimum your triggers. You set your MIDI channel determines how long the sound sustains dynamic, maximum dynamic, headroom, and note numbers to correspond with after you strike it. For basic drum sounds, scan time, and interaction. Except for the your receiving devices, your minimum gate time is generally meaningless. For interaction setting, all of the parameters velocity (how loud your softest hits will cymbals and other instrument sounds can be set for each of the nine triggers. sound), your maximum velocity (how and effects, you can adjust the sustain to The interaction setting affects all nine loud your loudest hits will sound), and your liking.

The final MIDI setting is program widest, smoothest range from soft to loud strokes below your minimum dynamic change. The K.I.T.I. can send one pro- hits. (Also not in the manual: You don't setting and above your threshold setting gram change per kit configuration to your have to change from the peak view func- will be read at the minimum velocity set- drum machines, synths, or samplers to tion back to the gain function to adjust ting. Any hits above your maximum call up a patch (a group of sounds or set- the gain. In the peak view function, you dynamic reading are played at your maxi- tings) of your choosing. The MIDI chan- will first get a bar-graph reading of your mum velocity setting. This is a nice fea- nel the program change will be transmit- stroke. By using the up or down arrows at ture; with it you can create dynamic flat ted on is the same as the MIDI channel this point, you can increment or decre- spots (small plateaus in your envelope) at you have selected for trigger input num- ment your gain.) the bottom and top of your dynamic ber 9 in each of your kits. The K.I.T.1. can Threshold, your next setting, is the range. This gives you more consistency at also receive program changes from point at which the peak of your trigger your low and high velocity settings. another controlling device, such as a signal will be read as an attack and subse- Headroom is a further tweaking of the sequencer. According to the K.I. T.I. 's quently fire a note. The lower this set- envelope. Without getting too technical, MIDI implementation sheet, it can only ting, the more sensitivity you will have, this setting gives you a way of "fine-tun- recognize messages sent on channel 16. but also the more likelihood of false trig- ing" the envelope to make it less sensitive Next you have your triggering settings. gering. Raising the threshold will elimi- to double triggering. The larger the This is where the K.I.T.I. allows you to nate false triggering, but will also elimi- headroom setting, the less likelihood of compensate for differences in trigger nate your low-end dynamics. The K.I.T.I. false triggering—but fast playing or a soft designs and to customize its functions to still has other parameters to aid in pre- hit immediately following a hard hit may your drums, triggers, and playing style. venting false triggering, but you should not be read. KAT calls this setting a The first—and most important—setting also work with trigger placement. You "safety margin," and it should be used as you will establish is gain, which is the may even have to try different triggers to just that. A high headroom setting won't level of input from the trigger into the achieve your desired goal. In any case, I work well for fast or dynamic playing. interface. (You will probably already have think it's safe to say that the object here Scan time is the last of the settings that a gain reading from your gain auto-train is to keep the threshold setting as low as you make independently for each of the function, but you can go from scratch if possible in order to gain maximum nine triggers. This setting allows you to you like. In any case you will more than dynamic response. (If you have to go compensate for differences in how quick- likely be making adjustments.) You want higher than 6 or 7 on this unit, you need ly different triggers reach their peak. to select a gain that is high enough to give to pinpoint exactly what is causing the This peak is what an interface reads and you good response and sensitivity at your false triggering and work from there.) converts to MIDI data. The objective low dynamic, as well as reading your high Mask time is the time immediately here is to use the lowest number of scans dynamics without "peaking out" the unit. after a hit, during which a signal is that give you an accurate and consistent The peak view function can help you "masked" or ignored. You can think of reading of your performance. In the visually in setting the gain by giving you a this as "recovery time." You are setting a K.I.T.I., a scan takes .5 milliseconds. A bar-graph representation of your attack time limit before the unit re-triggers with good trigger takes about 1 millisecond to on the trigger. The LEDs will light and your next hit. If you are playing fast and reach its peak. The range of settings in increase or decrease with your varying all of your notes don't fire, decrease the "scan time" is 3 to 16. A setting of 3 dynamics. You have 16 different gains to mask time. (You can also use this setting would take 1.5 milliseconds from the choose from, but rather than be con- sparingly to help eliminate false trigger- reading of the waveform to the completed cerned with picking one by number, hit ing-) MIDI send-out. This setting is optimum. your drum or pad and adjust your gain Minimum and maximum dynamic Fewer scans can mean a potentially less until you get the widest spread of (don't confuse these with minimum and accurate reading of your trigger—espe- response on the bar-graph and you are maximum velocity): These two parame- cially if it's less efficient and takes longer getting close to the dynamic response you ters really allow you to tailor the K.I. T.I. to to peak. More scans mean a more accu- want. You still have other parameters to how you want to play. Whether through rate reading, but more delay. If your set- adjust to get it just right. Remember, the auto-train or manual settings, the K.I.T.I. tings need to be higher than 6 on this response will vary not only with your play- has taken a "picture" of your envelope (a unit, you're probably working with a not- ing but with your trigger, trigger place- linear depiction of your stroke type on a so-good trigger. Don't waste your time; ment, tuning, size of drum, etc. You have particular drum or pad). It has read the good triggers don't cost that much more to experiment. softest, loudest, and middle portion of than bad ones and—along with a good You also don't have to have a peak view your stroke. Minimum dynamic is the interface—will make all the difference in reading of 1 for your softest hit and 16 for reading of your soft hit; maximum the world when triggering from acoustic your loudest. Adjust your gain to get the dynamic is that of your hard hit. Any drums. I tested the K.I.T.I. with four different how much you need) is read and stored (This fires at a fixed maximum velocity of triggers: the KAT KST1 shell mount and away as a "suppression factor" for a short 127, so it will only be useful for tweaking KDT1 head mount, the Fishman period of time after a hit. Any other trig- some settings.) ADT100S shell or head mount, and the ger must be at least as big as this per- not-yet-released Fishman "purple micro- centage (suppression factor) to be seen Conclusions dot" head mount. I also tried it with Dauz as a hit. pads and the Roland PD31 pad. Although This is a very powerful and efficient lit- there were differences in the K.I.T.I.'s The Memory tle unit. It's easy to learn and get around. response to each of these trigger sources, The manual is very well-written and the results were all excellent after some The K.I.T.I. can store 16 kits. There is illustrated. It addresses both the basic- adjustments. These are all pro-level trig- no other on-board storage. Any other sav- level user and the complete "tech-head" gering devices, and there are plenty of ing and loading would have to be done via thoroughly. Although the midi K.I. T.I. others not mentioned here, so you've got MIDI as a system exclusive transmission doesn't have many of the features men- lots of options to work with. to a separate storage device. This would tioned in the introduction, it does have Interaction, the last setting, is to fur- also be the only way to back up your set- absolutely pro-level trigger performance ther help suppress false triggering. This tings. This limited amount of RAM parameters, and it does everything it says setting presently affects all nine triggers would be just about my only major beef it can do. In today's advertising con per kit. (Bill Katoski informed me that a with this unit. games, that says a lot to me. So, if you are software update will be available soon that All editing is done in an edit buffer looking to do some straight-ahead trig- will allow you to group certain triggers KAT calls "temporary memory." There is gering, have a simple setup, and don't within a kit and assign an interaction per- also a "recall drawer" used to keep your need all the features of a high-end con- centage per group instead of per kit.) edited kit backed up, as well as to do kit troller, this unit may be just what you are Trigger interaction (false triggering) sup- copies. In addition there is a manual trig- looking for. It lists for $499; the optional pression works like this: When you strike ger mode, which allows you to fire your stand mount is $35. a trigger, some percentage (you decide trigger from the front panel while editing.

The Benefits Of A Four-Piece Kit

by Andy Newmark

Recently we received an Ask A Pro question directed to Andy playing I suppose, depending on how much revamping of the Newmark, which we passed along to him to answer. Andy obvi- fills you would have to do. If you were playing long fills that are ously spent a lot of time and effort thinking about his response, very dependent on a lot of notes (drums), then yes, you will and the results turned out to be so good—and thorough—that we have to shorten those fills and change your approach. The rest thought it might make a great full-blown article. What follows is of your playing needn't change a bit. Ninety-five percent of the the original question to Andy, and his response. time, you are playing bass drum, snare drum, and hi-hat, so the other five percent is all we are talking about possibly having to Dear Andy, edit. Many drummers are getting back to using much more basic The tuning of the bass drum and the snare drum should be drumkits these days. I just purchased a four-piece kit, and I'd as you had it on your bigger kit. Why change the boom and like your advice on how to get the most out of this type of setup, crack? That's your stamp; keep them as you like them. As for as far as general tuning, fills, and so forth. Your style, creativity, the tuning of the toms, each drum has an optimum note where and overall technique on this type of kit has always impressed the two heads (forget single heads in this set-up) seem to res- me, so you seem to be the best person to ask onate the longest. Don't stray too far from that about this subject. note. I would say with the floor tom, tune it to its Sincerely, "You are lowest possible note, without the heads buzzing. Mike Dmytriw Leave it there. Try to utilize that nice, long, fat Cleveland OH now at note. Please don't muffle it; you'll spoil everything nice about it. It should command one's attention Dear Mike, the wheel when you hit it; it should have balls! There are two ways I can approach your The high tom's tuning...well...take your pick. I question. Either version could give you different of a would want something that cuts through the set ideas. So I guess both ways of looking at it have and the music—not too obtrusive, but a definite lit- some validity. sports car, tle knife wound or stab. It's as if the drum were saying, "Hey guys, I'm small, but I can hurt you Answer #1 built for too!"

The only real difference between our four- one Answer #2 piece kit and a larger kit is that "they" have more toms. You've probably always played one purpose Here's another way of answering your question. bass drum, one snare drum, and a hi-hat Although you have only changed the number of (assuming you are not a double bass player). So only—the toms on your kit, and everything else is the same, I all you have changed by de-escalating to a four- think you will notice very quickly that this is a com- piece is the number of toms. Everything else is big beat!" pletely different animal. You are now at the wheel of the same. Therefore, I could say to you, "Don't a sports car, built for one purpose only—the big think about playing any differently now than beat! I'm talking about serious grooving now. You before; you just have to re-distribute your notes have traded in your Cadillac that had all the extras over fewer toms." That's the only difference. built in, and that lumbered along okay. Now you Depending on what kinds of fills you play, you have decided that you finally want to groove your have to work out what sounds good with only brains out! two toms. This could take you into a new style of Here's the story: I don't know what you were doing before, but with a four-piece set, I assure you, I know what you will be doing from now on. You will be playing the groove ninety-five percent of the time. That's bass drum, snare drum, and hi-hat. This could be significantly different than the Cadillac. You must make the groove feel good now, because there is nothing else to hit. The smaller kit focuses you on play- ing time, but presumably not just playing time. You'll be playing time with more affection and a much more intense focus on that function. Now the challenge becomes, "How can I keep the groove going, but add a little spice?" You will learn how to get to the toms within the groove, not just playing a fill on them. There's a difference. Incorporating the toms into the groove makes them become a part of the beat. This way you don't break a groove to play a fill. So you are now faced with a new discipline: doing more with less. You will learn to extract much more out of this four-piece than you realized. You will be pushed into a corner, and you will think more about how to color your playing. Things like dynam- ics on the hi-hat, dynamics on the other cymbals, and playing different parts of the ride cymbal are all options. Also, breaking up your hi-hat and ride patterns so that your right hand plays a song of its own is something you'll want to try (but never let it interfere with the flow of the music). You will learn how each drum becomes more important, because there are so few of them now. When a hockey team loses a player, the remaining players have a much greater load on them. So now you must pick your shots carefully. You will see how just a slight alteration of your bass drum pattern will suf- fice, instead of playing a fill. Or adding one tom note into the groove—a fantastic fill! By the way, when I talk about adding toms within the groove, it is usually by coming off the hi-hat momentarily. There are many ways to hit the toms. I often hit on the high tom. Depending on how far back you pull the stick to your side of the rim, the note will have a very different character. If you come way back, it will become more like a timbale. You can also take your other stick and put pressure on the tom head, and during a "timbale fill," alter the pressure so that the pitch of the drum changes. Here's something else: When you have a strong groove hap- pening, it will feel so good that you won't want to break it up with anything. Once you get that train motion going, it just gets more and more powerful—if you don't break it up. You will see how just dropping one bomb every 16 bars or even every 32 bars is magic. I know you've heard it a million times, but I tell you, the most difficult thing is playing the groove—nothing else—so that all the notes from all of the players swing. It's the drummer who makes everyone else's notes swing or not. If your groove makes everyone in the band feel secure and it's easy for them to play their axe with you, then you must be grooving. If you are doing that, then you're doing great. That's a lot of responsibility. And a four-piece kit is more than enough to do that! Dom Um Romao

by Frank Colon

Dom Um Romao and the bossa nova: These two names are syn- onymous when we consider their individual as well as united contributions to both Brazilian and international music. We could almost go as far as stating that without one, we would not have had the other, but this would be an unjust statement regarding Dom Um. For whatever style or movement had emerged, Dom Um Romao would still have left his unmistakable mark in musical history as a daring and incredibly talented innovator. Born into a musical family, Dom Um was taught how to play the drums by his father. By the time he was 16 years old, he was already performing professionally on a regular basis, playing in several bands and orchestras and in clubs and dance halls all around the city. Always one to pursue different avenues for his talents, Dom recorded three albums in the as a leader—all Um came to form the core of the group of musicians in Rio who favorably acclaimed by music critics worldwide. were experimenting with a new musical form: the bossa nova. FC: Can you give us a bit of your personal musical history? What has since become a major style of Brazilian music (one DUR: I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and I grew up that would have artistic and economic repercussions all over the around the Zona Sul area, as well as Zona Norte. My father, world) was born and crafted in a little alley in Rio de Janeiro. It Joaquim Romao, played the drumset as well as percussion and was here, in two or three small and dimly lit "after-hour" clubs, drums with the symphonic orchestra in Rio. At home we would that Dom Um and some of his colleagues, notably Antonio Carlos listen mostly to Brazilian music, but we would also listen to Jobim, Jorge Bem, Elis Regina, Nara Leao, Edison Machado, classical music and to jazz as well. Flora Purim, and Sergio Mendez, made their first attempts at Besides my father, all of my uncles played an instrument. My creating a new Brazilian idiom that would reflect their tropical whole family was very musical. And everybody could play per- identity while liberating the instrumentalists' self-expression. cussion instruments. So as a child the first instruments I played Once the bossa nova became firmly established in Brazil and were percussion instruments. By the time I was eight years old, recognized abroad, Dom Um was among the first to travel I was already playing the drums in a band. around the world presenting these novel sounds. From 1962 FC: How did you get started in recording? through 1970, he performed with artists like Joao and Astrud DUR: The first albums I participated on were samba enredo Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Oscar Castro Neves, Julian records—the ones that are released a few months before "Cannonball" Adderley, , Stanley Turrentine, and Carnaval, introducing the escolas de sambas' new songs for that Oscar Brown, Jr. He was also a pan of Sergio Mendez's Brazil year. Here, I usually played a variety of percussion instruments. 66. FC: What was it like recording in Brazil at that time? 1971 witnessed the inception of a new and different jazz band DUR: Back then, records of that sort were done on primitive on the world scene, a band to be known by the name of Weather machines, where the music was recorded "live," directly onto a Report. Alongside of , , Miroslav wax record blank. It was a one-shot deal. If somebody made a Vitous, and , Dom Um was a primary ingredi- big mistake, you had to start everything over from the begin- ent in the development of the audacious rhythmic pulse of the ning! The recordings weren't done on multi-track tapes yet. band. He remained with the group for three and a half years, Back then, I wasn't too interested in the technical aspects of the contributing his talents and some songs to four of their albums. recording, so I wouldn't be wandering around the control rooms Since moving on from , Dom Um has too much. The band would come in all rehearsed, set up all our branched out, primarily working internationally. Besides record- stuff, go over everything once or twice, and then just go for it, ing with Blood, Sweat & Tears and the Swiss group Om, he has from beginning to end, in one shot. Carnaval music was no mystery to us, so as soon as the various melodies were reviewed a couple of times, that was it. The rhythm was something we all knew; there was never any problem there. FC: Have you recorded a lot of albums in Brazil? DUR: I recorded a lot of samba records. I also recorded with Os Copa Cinco, Meireles, Paulo Moura, and Pedro Paulo. I pro- duced Flora Purim's first album in Brazil, arranged by my friend Mestre Cipo. I got a deal for her with RCA Victor in Brazil and also participated on the record. Every year I was part of the band that put out the "official" Carnaval album, contain- ing the songs from the major escolas de sambas, which would then compete in various musical categories during the big Carnaval parade. I did the percussion, as well as the drums. As soon as overdubbing became possible for us, many times I was the only one doing the percussion on these records. I would do three surdos, some caixas, a couple of pandeiros, four tam- borims, some whistles, a couple of a-go-gos, a bunch of xocal- hos, and some other things—all in one day. DUR: Well, not exactly. There had always been a lot of improvi- FC: As far as your trapset playing is concerned, do you adhere sation done in the chorinho type of music, which goes back a to any specific style at all? long way, tracing its roots back to Portugal. But the bossa nova DUR: I think I'm very much a Brazilian trap drummer—a sam- was a modern style of Brazilian music with improvisation as one bista all the way. I'm really into samba drumming—you know, of its key ingredients. the samba cruzado—and I've never been into rock drumming at FC: Many people believe that the bossa nova was a Brazilian all. adaptation of jazz. FC: When did you first come to the U.S.A.? DUR: That's not true at all! One had nothing to do with the DUR: In 1962, when the first wave of Brazilian music hit this other. Bossa nova was something that was created totally inde- country. That was with a group called the Bossa Rio Sextet. We pendent from the jazz influence. It was also an era in Brazil; the put on a show at Carnegie Hall, which was the first time that music reflected the times, and vice versa. It was in the language bossa nova was ever performed here. That group also included first, and then it became a musical style. "Bossa" used to be Sergio Mendez, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao and Astrud slang for "something new and exciting." If you had some nice Gilberto, and Menescal. We immediately recorded the sextet clothes on—not necessarily new but different and definitely with guest appearances by and Herbie "cool"—then you were looking "bossa." So, when we started Mann. Stan Getz also got on the bandwagon and sort of took off playing this new music at these clubs—which were the only in this new direction. It happened to be good for him, as well as ones into this new style at the time—people started telling each for Brazilian music. other about the "new bossa" music that was happening on this FC: You had a group in Rio called the Copa Trio, right? one street. Pretty soon the name "bossa nova" stuck, and a DUR: Yes. The group also included Manoel Guzman and Dom whole musical movement has evolved since. The most creative Salvador. This was during the time of the Beco das Garrafas, period was between the years of '58 and '62. That's when we which was this one street in Rio where experimental music was were really refining the bossa. created. At this time down in Rio, there were no trios or quar- FC: So in 1962 you came to the U.S. to perform here at tets who played Brazilian music. You mostly played in big bands Carnegie Hall. or on some other gigs playing jazz tunes and such. That wasn't DUR: Yeah, and I felt very good here. We were very well- for me; I never considered myself a jazz traps player, and I still received. I liked the spirit of this country and decided that I don't. But in my group I began the policy of having everybody wanted to move here permanently. So I went back to Brazil with solo during our performances. This was very odd at the time; it the rest of the band only in order to straighten out my personal was definitely not going along with the norm. But the style soon life before making the definite move. In 1965, having satisfied caught on, and before you knew it, there were a bunch of groups all of the bureaucratic requirements, I traveled back to the U.S. who were into this style of playing and musically stretching out. as an immigrant. Upon arriving, I stayed at Horace Silver's My trio expanded into a quintet, the Copa Cinco, who were place. I would like to thank him publicly for all the help he gave myself, Toninho, Meirelhes, Paulo Moura, Pedro Paulo, and me. Also Norman Granz, who I first met in Brazil. He and I Otavio Bene, Jr. We recorded an album under the same name, really became good friends. He produced a Copa Trio record in which is a collector's item today. Brazil, and I later did another album with him here. While in FC: So this was the birth of improvisational music in Brazil? Brazil, he gave me a check for $500 and said, "Here, hang on to

this and cash it when you make it to the U.S." I later recorded them the next day. So I gathered some of my percussion instru- an album here with Norman Granz called Hotmosphere, on ments and went to one of the S.I.R buildings, where they were Pablo Records. rehearsing. We played for about an hour before Zawinul sud- FC: So you were in Brazil during the military takeover in 1964. denly said, "Yeah, man, we don't need to rehearse any more. DUR: Yes. This was a very hard time for everybody in Brazil, a That's good just like that, man. Leave it just like it is! Anyway, very negative period in our history. The military was censoring tomorrow we'll be leaving on a short tour." everything left and right, and a lot of artists were going to jail or FC: So you left the next day with them? else being exiled because of their "subversive" ideas or DUR: I think we played in Philadelphia first, and then contin- lifestyles. This contributed a lot to my rushing to get my travel ued up the East Coast. I stayed with Weather Report for three papers together so I could leave that madness behind. and a half years. I played on I Sing The Body Electric, Live In FC: Once you moved to the U.S.A. in 1965, what happened? Tokyo, Mysterious Traveler, and Sweetnighter. This was a very DUR: I worked a little with and Charlie good period for me. Mariano. Then I left New York for Chicago to work with Oscar The band at that time was very together. We used to play a lot Brown, Jr. It ended up that I stayed in Chicago for a year and a together, all the time, and these jam sessions were always done half. While in Chicago, Antonio Carlos Jobim called me for a in an atmosphere of stretching out musically. The band had a session in Los Angeles. Well, the session turned out to be the certain spirit of its own; we liked each other and liked being /A.C. Jobim bossa nova album. Once in Los with each other. The band's personnel didn't change as much in Angeles, I did a few other sessions here and there when, all of a those times as it did later on. When I finally left the band, it was sudden, Sergio Mendez telephoned me offering me a job with a move in order to produce my own personal project. his band, which was then called Brazil 66. I accepted his offer FC: Was this around the time when you moved to Europe and and stayed with the band for three and a half years, playing the began touring with the group Om? traps and recording three or four albums and traveling all over DUR: Yes. I went over to Switzerland to do some work, and Om the world. contacted me and asked me to join their group. I recorded and FC: I've heard it stated that you were the first person to intro- toured with them for a couple of years. Since then, I have been duce the berimbau to the American public. Is this so? dividing my time between New York, Switzerland, and Germany. DUR: That's absolutely right. If I remember correctly, that was Sometimes I spend six months in one place, six months in the about 1965 or '66, and it was during a series of shows with next, and so on. Sergio Mendez and Brazil 66, at Carnegie Hall. Each night I FC: Do you take on students when you are not traveling? would open up the show with a berimbau solo. Besides playing DUR: Depending on my schedule, I'll take on students and traps with Sergio, I would sometimes play other Brazilian per- teach them in my home. These can be either drum or percus- cussion instruments as well. sion classes. I've done a lot of workshops in Switzerland, Up until then, all that was here was Afro-Cuban percussion Germany, Italy, and here. instruments—congas, , maracas, cowbells—and the My workshops include a physical fitness and warm-up period, guys would usually only play one of these at a time. But after I where we'll do some jogging in conjunction with hand-clapping started playing with a lot of instruments on stage it dawned on coordination, on and off the beat. Then we might do some vocal me that there might be a market for this type of thing. So I quit exercises to liberate the spirit, and then some breathing and playing trap drums and just pursued work as a multi-instru- diaphragm exercises. Moving right along, we might then have a ment percussionist. As always, when you begin something dif- group massage session, in order for everybody to totally relax. ferent, it takes a little time to develop, and in that light it was a Then we might move into a primal scream session. Next, I sacrifice that I took upon myself: to stick to my idea until it might separate them into small groups and ask them to create a finally bore fruit. I feel proud of being an innovator in this sense. composition. I'll go from group to group, checking out what they Nowadays there are all kinds of percussionists functioning in all are each coming up with, and help them in this point or that. categories of the music business. This has been really good when I've been able to organize these FC: How did your association with Weather Report come about? workshops over the course of a couple of days or a long week- DUR: Airto was the first percussionist to work with Weather end. Report. Those guys were always hanging out at Walter Booker's FC: What about the studio that you used to have, Black Beans? Boogie Woogie studio, jamming and rehearsing. Cannonball DUR: That was around 1984. The studio belonged to me and a Adderley used to rehearse there all the time, and Joe, Airto, and partner of mine. It didn't last too long because I was always on Booker played in that band. After Airto recorded the first the road for long periods of time. If you are not there to super- Weather album, he got the gig with and went that vise the day-to-day activity of your business, it simply will not way instead. I happened to run into Zawinul and Wayne one stay afloat by itself. After months and months of losing money, I night at one of the clubs. They both talked to me about playing had to let it go. It was a shame, because the place had become a percussion with them and asked me to come to a rehearsal with

Applying Cross Rhythms Malkin Rick by

To The Drumset: Part 2 Photo • by Rod Morgenstein

In my last column we talked about creating cross every fourth note instead of every second note, like this: rhythms by accenting every third note of a continu- ous 8th-note or 16th-note pattern. We also can ap- ply the cross rhythm concept to triplets. Let's be- gin with the following 4/4 measure, which consists of a constant flow of 8th-note triplets. Apply the accents to the toms:

If we play only the accent and omit the unaccented note, we end up with the following three-against-four polyrhythm:

However, if we accent every second note instead of every third, a cross rhythm effect results: Another way to illustrate this is as follows:

The conflict of the two-note accent pattern played simultaneously The half-note triplet (three notes) takes up the exact same amount against the three-note triplet creates the cross rhythm. of space as the four quarter notes below it, hence three-against-four. Let's apply these accents to the toms: One way in which I apply cross rhythms to the drumset is by applying four-note patterns or licks to triplets. For example, the following four-note pattern (snare, tom, floor tom, bass drum) would look like this:

If we play only the accents and omit the unaccented notes of the two-note pattern, we end up with the following three-against-two polyrhythm: Here's another one: floor tom, hi-hat, snare, bass drum.

Another way to illustrate this is as follows: Eight-note patterns (or two four-note patterns) also work well when applied to triplets. For example, a complete paradiddle is an eight-note (or two four-note) pattern.

Note how the three-note quarter-note triplets take up the exact same amount of time as the two quarter notes below them. Another way to create cross rhythms with triplets is to accent When played in a triplet context it sounds like this:

Play the first note of each paradiddle on a tom, and you have a very interesting two-measure drum fill.

Or try your hand at a paradiddle beat:

Played in a triplet context, we have the following:

Once you achieve a basic understanding of how cross rhythms work, you'll find that you can create an unlimited number of exciting and unique rhythmic textures. play nightclubs and use it to play a drum studio. You discover that they have an SP- line while you go up front to sing backup 12 or similar monster drum machine DRUM with killer sounds in it. Can you use the and play a . You may have songs programmed that you play along with on SP-12 on your track without rewriting the your electronic drumset. (Let's use a entire drum line? Simmons SDS 8 analog, non-MIDI kit Absolutely! Simply change the MIDI MACHINES for our example.) The band decides that Send numbers on the Yamaha to match they want to learn a whole bunch of new the receiving notes on the E-mu unit (the material, updating their '60s, '70s, and SP-12 does not have re-assignable MIDI '80s variety format to more modern, tech- notes), or use the E-mu's "Swap A TO Z no Top-40 (perhaps bowing to pressure Sounds" function (their means to the from club owners). Needless to say, that same end), and voila! Your drum track is RX-11 could outlive its usefulness pretty on tape; your job is done. You get sent out by Ric Furley quickly. You need more sounds and more for fried chicken and drinks while your memory for those new tunes. band red-eyes the rest of the session. If There we were, in our Electronic You decide to get a newer, fancier you had the chart presented here, you Percussion class, finishing up our very drum machine, and a not-too-expensive could set the changes up at home in first project. Using an Apple computer, MIDI converter to beef up the ol' advance (saving valuable session time), we had to translate a rhythm pattern so it Simmons axe. With the addition of and be even more of a hero! would be understood by an E-mu SP-12 almost any other drum machine you can drum machine. It worked! Boy were we expand your current setup to truly FOOTNOTES proud! Questions arose to the tune of, "I breathtaking heights. One suggestion is have a different machine at home, and to try a machine that has a variety of 1. On the machines listed #1 through my buddy has this other one. Can we Latin sounds, in addition to the basic kit. #18, in many instances two MIDI note make our machines talk to each other?" You can use your trusty RX-11 to play the numbers are assigned to the same sound. As we learned a bit more and realized new sounds on the new machine, keeping In each case, the higher of the two MIDI that such communication was possible, every rhythmic nuance intact—plus you numbers is the note "sent" when the logical, and practical, I thought, have all that memory to use. And having sound is triggered. "Mightn't it be very handy to have a little the MIDI converter will allow you to play reference chart to show how all those all of those sounds from both machines 2. For the purposes of convenience and MIDI numbers relate to each other on with your Simmons pads, while still legibility, abbreviations for various different drum machines?" Certainly retaining your analog sounds! And you sounds were used consistently on the there were other musical pioneers much don't even have a sampler yet! chart. However, they may appear differ- like ourselves who could benefit from a Luckily, almost every drum machine ently on the individual machines. For chart of this scope. on the market has the capability to reas- example, while "sn" is used to stand for The challenge was made. Letters were sign note numbers. (Refer to your "snare drum" on the chart (as it is on written to drum machine manufacturers owner's manual for your particular many machines), some machines use around the country. Information came machine.) This is where the fun starts. "sd" instead. Additionally, where the pouring in (well, not pouring, but drip- Thanks to the miracle of MIDI, now any chart may spell out sounds such as "tam- ping at a pretty good rate). With the help drum machine can "talk" to almost any bourine" or "," many machines of MD's Equipment Annual and a few other drum machine. will abbreviate those sounds as "tamb" or other sources, we gathered as many As a second example, suppose you and "timp." machines as we could find and assem- your band are asked to do a jingle for a bled a fairly concise chart. local clothing outlet. You sit up all night 3. The meaning of some abbreviations Let's take a look at some of the useful getting the demo together on your four- might not be immediately apparent. applications that could be employed. Say track, and you're pretty happy with it These include "dst" ("distorted"), "fus" you have your basic Yamaha RX-11 that (after about 37 takes). The ad agency ("fusion"), "proc" ("processed"), and holds 10 songs and 100 patterns. You may loves it, and you are ready to take it to the "rvrs" ("reversed").

Rhythmic Rudimental Progressions: Mattingly Rick

Part 6: Triple Paradiddles by Photo by Joe Morello Transcribed by Keith Necessary

The purpose of the following exercise is to be able to play triple As suggested in previous articles, try playing this exercise with paradiddles using 8th notes, 8th-note triplets, 16th notes, 16th-note brushes. Also, try this exercise at the drumset. Play the unaccented triplets, and 32nd notes. If you've been following this series, you notes on the snare drum and the accented notes on the toms or should be familiar with the concepts we're covering. cymbal/bass drum combination, while playing four on the hi-hat Play this exercise with and without accents. Once you can play the with your left foot. exercises as written, try accenting the first note only of each triple paradiddle. Don't raise the metronome speed if you feel any sort of If you have any questions about this exercise, you can contact Joe tension. Also, experiment with dynamic levels. Play everything from through Modern Drummer. very soft (ppp) to very loud (fff).

John "Jabo" Starks: Superbad

Transcribed by Joseph Connell

This month we're featuring a classic performance by drummer John "Jabo" Starks with "the hardest-working man in show business," James Brown. This performance, along with several other great tracks, is now available on the CD James Brawn: The CD of J.B. (Sex Machine And Other Soul Classics) (Polygram 825 714-2).

Samba For Conga Drums

by John Santos

The samba is an exciting rhythm and dance with more variations than anyone knows. That is where the beauty of it lies—its versatil- ity. The following are eight solid sambas that I know you're going to enjoy. As usual, let those creative juices flow when adapting these to specific musical situations. The first three examples are to be played on one conga drum. Examples 4 through 8 are for two drums. (The high drum is notated on the top space, the low drum on the second.) The examples con- Example 3 is derived from the feel known aspartido alto. taining notes that are enclosed in parentheses should be learned with and without those respective notes. Also, the symbols appearing in the examples indicate: S = slap, O = open tone, H = heel (full palm), and T = toe, touch, or tap (fingers). Examples 1 and 2 are based in the traditional samba de roda style.

Example 4 is definitely a different approach than what you'll usu- ally see. It combines both the samba de roda and partido alto rhythms. The samba de roda feel is maintained with the right hand on the low drum, while the partido alto is played with the left hand on the higher-pitched drum (reverse if you're a lefty). 4

Examples 5 and 6 are variations that are kind of "salsa-ish."

Examples 7 and 8 are variations likely to be heard with sambas de enredo (theme songs of the samba schools).

drum in a circular motion for best results. drums I've owned, I'm unsure how best "Providing the scratches in your finish to care for them. Is it okay to use house- are not too deep, a product called Drum hold furniture polish to dust and clean Luster is excellent for hiding hairline them, or will this hurt the finish? Also, scratches. It's available from Rit Drums, I've noticed a couple of very small 504 Lake Drive, Allegan, Michigan 49010. scratches in the finish—probably from Another option is a product called constantly setting up and tearing down McGuire's Nu-Glaze—a glaze and reseal- the drums. Is there a product that could er made for cars and available in almost be used to buff out the scratches without any automotive products store. We do hurting the finish? suggest testing a small area first. As with Tom Robinson the furniture polish, rub the product into Phoenix AZ a rag first, then apply it to the drum. "As for basic care, we suggest that if Sandy Dallas, of Pearl's produc- you leave your drums set up, you use tion department, provided the fol- some type of cover (such as a sheet) to lowing information: "It's okay to use a keep dust and dulling agents in the air household furniture polish such as from settling on them." Lemon Behold or Lemon Pledge to clean lacquered drums. However, don't spray polish directly onto the drum. Spray the polish on a soft rag (such as an old T-- shirt, a diaper, or cheesecloth) first, and rub it well into the rag. Then wipe the

artistic license is really important. There afterwards. So it doesn't pay in the long was a situation during the time that run to do that. was really hot. RF: But you just got finished saying you Have you ever asked that your name be recommended me to those cats to play on have a commitment to the producer and taken off a project? a track. There had been a date that I had the artist, and they're paying you to exe- VINNIE: I did a project recently where done three years prior to that recommen- cute what they ask. Yet, maybe they're they weren't going to put my name on it, dation, where it was some schlock music asking you to be something you're not. and I said, "Yeah!" and I said, "Ya know, I don't really want to MIKE: I always have this great thing. If a JEFF: There's a time when you have to play this," and I just played very producer says, "Play a Vinnie fill," or keep artistic license. I've had it with play- mediocre. The one thing Fagen and "Play like Jeff," I say, "Look, I'll give you ing stuff that I would otherwise never Becker happened to have heard me play their phone numbers." play. That is not good for the soul. on was a tape of that one track. They told JEFF: It can even come down to some- MIKE: That worked against me once. Carlton, "We've heard this cat; he's not thing as minute as milliseconds in the Whenever you show up in a situation, that happening." Carlton told me the story tempo of the click, where I feel it's my duty to suggest that the click be raised or lowered a couple of notches. Those little things can make or break the groove. DENNY: Part of our job is to make sug- gestions. JEFF: The other day I made that sugges- tion, and the producer insisted that I should make it feel just as comfortable at that tempo, but in my heart I knew that was a load of crap. HARVEY: I feel that if that's the tempo, I should be able to make it feel good. VINNIE: But you settle where you want to settle, and there's a reason that you do that. I always go back and forth in my own mind, because I hear people saying, "Yeah, he's a one-tempo drummer," and how a drummer should be able to play at any tempo. MIKE: Then that's saying you have to be a machine, and that's not possible. If everybody had the same fill, say, a five- stroke roll, and we said, "Harvey, you play it," "Jeff, you play it," all of us are going to play differently. It's the same roll, the same number of notes, but it's going to be different. And if it is the same, then we might as well be machines. VINNIE: Also, talking about how to respond to certain producers, do you ever notice that some guys try to tell you what they want, but they don't really know, and you have to be able to read them? JIM: A lot of times a big part of our job is to make sure the producer doesn't end up looking like an idiot. Hal Blaine used to tell me things like that. He said, "You'll notice after working with people that it will be real easy to make them look stupid, because they are"—some of them. That will make the big difference—if you've done that, or if you've made the guy feel like he's done some good work.

That's part of your gig. That's the way not ask you to do things like that; they that you work with this guy, he only wants I've always approached it. I know Jeff does hire you for yourself. But when you're that fill. You do every project this guy the same thing, but I love the other side doing a record with a particular artist and does for three years, and one day you of Jeff where he will just not take any you are not really part of the creative pro- don't get a phone call, and you know the crap. The stories about Jeff walking cess, they have an idea of how they envi- guy is working. Vinnie gets the phone call out—I've worked for the same artists he's sion a record to go, and it's your job to go and Vinnie shows up on the date and walked out on, and I've stayed. in there and interpret what they're trying somebody innocently says, "What hap- MIKE: There have been times when I've to get. If they ask for a particular fill, then pened to Steve?" "Can't use him, he refused to play a certain fill that they hear I play it. That's it, no question about it. I always plays the same fill." And what fill just because it's really lame. I'll just say, don't care how dumb it is. did they give Vinnie to play? Yep, that fill. "I'll play anything else, but I won't play STEVE: Now let me give you the down [a chorus of Ohhhhhhhhhhh!] that." side to the guy who played the fill RF: When we did our last round table, HARVEY: If you're in a creative situation, because they kept on insisting on it. No electronics were peaking. I'd like to talk as I am a lot of times, most people will matter what tune you play for three years about studio trends and what's going on today. JIM: To me, what is happening with elec- tronics right now is exactly what I thought was going to happen back in '83. A lot of people were panicking, but the very thing that did happen, which we all knew was going to happen, was that peo- ple were going to lose out on gigs. The players who did a lot of demos lost their gigs to machines, that's for sure. But the electronics took over for a long time because that was the trend. What's hap- pening now is that the electronics are just another piece of gear. The acoustic drums are as big and important as they ever were. Because everybody got to the point where, when they listen to a record and it's a machine, there's just something in your body that tells you there's nobody home, and that's not good for the average music listener when he can feel that. RF: But everybody invested in major racks. JIM: You can still use them. Now it's just another piece of gear. VINNIE: That's another can of worms: • in terms of the status of electronics, the place of it versus racks. Racks are a whole other thing. But just to expound on the average music listener who feels nobody is home: It's like conditioning; you can get used to that. Listen to the way records are programmed now. It's no longer important whether or not there are 15 things going on at once, that it doesn't sound like a real drummer because a real drummer would stop playing the hi-hat when he plays a fill. It doesn't matter. Now people are used to hearing that. Guys who are used to hearing machines all the time have to de-condition them- selves when they hear a real drummer. RF: Vinnie, how much did you actually

get into the machinery? gear, and for a new kid coming up, it's, triggering off the acoustic drums? VINNIE: Not as much as I thought I had "What do you really need?" If the produc- MIKE: Absolutely. There are a lot of to. I invested a lot of money in this big er says he wants five different snare engineers who can't deal with an acoustic rack of electronics, and it's just bells and drums, a couple of different kicks, and a set of drums, so they're hoping you'll whistles. It's just a psychological war of couple of different toms, something like a bring in sounds. who has the biggest rack. It's jive. Now is great because the guy doesn't JIM: The first day I used the ddrums, it you don't need all that stuff. need to know sounds. He can say, "How blew my mind, because it was so easy. JIM: The nature of electronics is that in about this tom? How about this snare?" I When was the last time you did a nine- a 30-day period, a rack of gear that you still find the application for my rack, hour TV show or movie at Universal? I have can be replaced with one rack space though. I like creating my own sounds. had never done one. It's usually three now of another thing. What I recently dis- Lately in a lot of situations I'll walk in hours and out. This happened to be a covered is the ddrum. The pads are very, and people will say, "I just want your strange thing. It was nine hours, and I very cool to play on. They feel good acoustic drums." There's a lot of that didn't have anything but ddrums there. because they have drumheads and they're now. Or they'll say, "I want you to pro- There were a stack of cues, and I very, very dynamic. You can actually drop gram a drum machine," so you bring in a thought, "I don't know what I'm going to the stick and you get a nice little buzz machine. The other side of the spectrum do here," but as it turned out, those roll, and you can hit it real hard and it is, "I don't have a budget. I want electron- things were so versatile that I did a gets big. You can program it like that with ics, but I don't want to pay nine million marching band thing, and I had this huge the dynamics, which is very cool. The dollars for this piece of gear and that bass drum sound for it. I'd go from that sounds are also very good, because piece of gear." So you bring one sampler to a ZZ Top sound. We all do that for a they've taken samples from different and a pad kit or a drum machine and trig- living once in a while, and those ddrums guys, and they blow the chips and put ger your drum machine. Maybe a guy will just saved my butt. I sounded like Tommy them into ROM, and you have a choice. say, "I've already got the sounds, but I Lee with Motley Crue on one song, and It's better than your own sampled sounds don't want a machine. Bring a controller then there's a little jazz set. because sampled sounds are innately and some pads. I don't want your perfor- MIKE: That's a big advantage, particu- slow, they're late. mance." So you can walk in, play it into larly for movie and TV things. You walk MIKE: Ddrums have opened things up. their Mac, and you're gone. in, it's clean, they don't have to worry It's definitely changed, like Jim said. It DENNY: Don't you find, especially in the about leakage, and it's a lot easier and used to be that you had to have all of this last year and a half, that there's a lot less quicker to deal with than having your own sounds, even though you might have pre- half hour in a good room with a good different. What electronics does for me is, set sets. engineer with gates and certain effects, if now that I've got this real good trigger JIM: I find now that my situation with there is that kind of time. I have a rack system with the Impulse or the KAT, I can electronics is that I generally have to ask built right now, though, that I really like: trigger sounds from my toms, bass drum, to use them because nobody wants to It's a microwave, a VCR, and a refrigera- snare, and even the hi-hat, and I can play hear that from me. tor. That's the kind of rack I need. It's all at the volume I like to play at. But when I RF: Harvey, do you use a lot of electron- been bogus to me, personally. hear the playback, it sounds big. It ics? JIM: Jeff knows this about me, but I sounds good to me, and I don't have to HARVEY: I use them quite a bit on don't know if anyone else does: I cannot work so hard. So for me, electronics are motion pictures. On records, I end up hit a drum hard and play anything at all. If more than just a trend. triggering mainly the bass drum and the I hit a drum a little bit too hard, it's just VINNIE: I find that once I cross a cer- snare drum. I use the Dynacord a lot not me; there's no music coming from tain volume threshold, I also lose finesse, because it's pretty fast, and the Akai and me at that point. I'm just hitting hard, and it just mounts into problems. When I the R8, and I put all these things togeth- and I'm just playing a beat. That's not the play too hard, all the other stuff just goes, er. I think acoustic drums are definitely way I started. I started out as a jazz play- so now I just never exceed that level. And back in vogue, more than they've been in er, so everything I play has got to be I find it doesn't make that big a differ- the past few years. meaningful to me somehow for me to get ence. RF: Jeff, you never got much into elec- off. Like Denny said, we all went through MIKE: The drum is only going to get so tronics. a period where we had to hit hard and in loud, no matter how hard you hit it, and JEFF: I'm trying to remember one time the middle and in the right place so that then it's going to choke. I've used any piece of electronic gear in we could trigger the Wendel and this and RF: Before this equipment talk, we were any professional setting. Live I used the that. But thank God those days are gone. talking about getting into the studios, and timbale sound off the Dynacord once, but Now we're back to trying to be musical. I'm wondering how people do it. It's I've never used them on sessions. The thing for me is that I'm sitting here impossible to get any demo work any- JIM: You never triggered sounds? in a room with some of the greatest musi- more. Since our last round table six years JEFF: Never. Somebody might do some- cians in the world, and most of you guys ago, Denny is the only new guy doing thing after I'm gone, but I find that doing hit harder than I do and you still get enough work to get invited here today. records, I go from a Bonham-esque music out. It's a physical thing and it's Why is that? What do you tell a kid who is sound to a little Billy Higgins sound in a one of the great things about us all being growing up? MIKE: First of all, I think for a young kid and hire one of the cats in this room. Robinson was. I thought the guy was kid- who wants to get into the studio, I don't RF: You're telling me that it's hard to ding. What good is a reputation you think it's even a viable thing to tell some- break into it because the old-timers have build? body. He has a better chance of going out it sewn up. But before the tape was MIKE: I've seen the phases in this and getting in a band that's going to get rolling, Vinnie was saying they put you out industry. It's gone from the days where signed than he has of breaking into the to pasture after a certain amount of time. you did records and TV and movie stuff, studio. It's not that he won't have the VINNIE: They tend to, but I think it's to, "Oh, he does records and he does opportunity to break in; it's just that peo- up to you to keep up with what's happen- movie and TV stuff." Then it was, "Who ple don't have the time to waste. If they're ing and to be on the cutting edge. All I wants to do the movie and TV shit, doing demos, they're doing them with a meant is that we're a youth-oriented soci- because the records are the hip thing to machine. If they're doing a full-blown ety, to the point where it's a sickness. I do." Then the record industry went lame record, they're either going to find some- thought you could get a reputation and and if you didn't do the movie and TV body who is going to do it under double- then enjoy it. I was doing a record recent- stuff, you were starving to death—and scale; or they're going to pay double-scale ly, and they didn't even know who John there's also an expertise in that field. You have to be able to read, and there's the pressure of an 80-piece orchestra. You're screwed if you make a mistake. I remember Jim Horn telling me eons ago, "Whatever you do, don't lose the fire," and that's what happens in this town, aside from getting pigeonholed. I watched the Hal Blaines and the John Guerins fold because they never wanted to progress. They said, "I'm at the height of my day, and I can play anything and I'll get hired." A friend of mine once sug- gested it was that they did so many dates that they didn't know when to give 100% and when not to give 100%. They lost perspective. Instead of going in and say- ing, "I'm giving 100% on everything I do," they started making judgments, and eventually the judgments caught them off guard. JIM: I never even approached the worka- holic level that Hal Blaine or Earl Palmer and probably most of you guys have. I don't work nearly as much as people think I do. I did for a little period in the '70s, and I got so burned out that that happened to me. I didn't care anymore. I listen to records from those days and it's embarrassing. VINNIE: But you saw that and got past that. JIM: One of the reasons is that if you don't work that much, you're just more eager to play. RF: Everyone has told me in separate interviews that there is indeed such a thing as studio burnout. What is that? What are the symptoms? What is the remedy? DENNY: You drain yourself of any musi- cality if you're working every day for a certain length of time. For me, there's a point where I'm not playing as well as I was playing three weeks ago, or I'm not but I didn't really play." Now I realize I home from sessions and practiced coming up with the creative ideas that I have to cool it for a couple of days. To me, because you didn't feel like you played. was coming up with. I have to take a week burnout means just not giving a damn, VINNIE: Oh yeah, if I went on some TV or two off to just listen to music, live, and getting overly grumpy and starting to date, some episode where I played a cou- do whatever to get fed again. I don't even snap at the guys who are hiring me. I'm ple of cymbal rolls and read the latest play during that time off; I don't even not playing well and I know it, and my Greenpeace issue, then I would go home pick up a pair of sticks. When I go back, I whole perspective gets funny. I would get and practice. But it depends. play better than I did. pissed off because I couldn't admit to RF: Percentage-wise, how much do you RF: Do all of you listen to those moments myself that I wasn't playing well, and in get to express yourself? and say, "I'm approaching burnout"? reality, it was just because I was burned VINNIE: Probably less than half. It's get- What does that feel like? out. I hate that feeling. ting a little more these days, though, and VINNIE: There was a time a couple of RF: All of you guys play live from time to I'd like to keep it that way, like doing years ago where I'd get home at 10:00 at time. Is it particularly for the reason of things like Patitucci's record. night, and there would be a call from wanting to be "you" for a minute? RF: But really, you get off when you play someone like Bobby Womack, who would DENNY: It's a different energy playing live? work all night long. So I'd go at 10:00 to live, almost a different set of chops, play- VINNIE: Yes, because I don't think work with him until 4:00 in the morning, ing one song after another, not the same about it; I just do it. when I had been working since 9:00 the song. The endurance is different because MIKE: I think Vinnie's situation is a dif- morning before. Then I'm no good to you're playing for two hours straight. ferent scenario, because his background anybody, but you don't want to say no. RF: Why do you do it? Jeff, you probably is more fusion, and that's his love at RF: Why don't you want to say no? do it the most, because you're in a band. heart. To really play that 100%, you really VINNIE: Because you get into it and you. JEFF: I'll play anywhere. I just like play- have to play that live, so it's tough in a get this momentum going, but it catches ing, whether it's in the studio or in a studio situation because a lot of those up with you and you can't see it. You want club. Hopefully I'm playing in the studio things do not apply in 90% of the situa- to work and you want to play. I was trying like I play live, with the same excite- tions. I didn't come from that school. I to keep fresh, so if I was doing that one ment—if I'm allowed to. came from, "Let's go simple, let's get the night, then the next day I'd work from RF: But what's the percentage of times groove." I'm not saying one is better than 10:00 to 1:00 and I'd go home and try to that you're allowed to? Vinnie, don't you the other; I'm just saying I can get off practice for an hour, thinking, "I played, get frustrated? You said you've come easier in a studio situation than Vinnie because I'm not going to be as frustrated. have to invest in property, you have to JEFF: It's incredible. VINNIE: For me, it's whatever the tune make smart decisions, and you have to RF: Do you try to balance your life more is. If it's a great tune and a simple tune, think about those kinds of things. as you get older with families, and stop I'll get off on it. MIKE: You can start a band and get a being so music-focused? Is it difficult to HARVEY: That's what I was going to say record deal. balance a home life? also. I may not always play a lot technical- DENNY: Publishing is money for your MIKE: I would say yes. Sometimes it can ly, but if I can fit into the musical situa- grandkids. be the rollercoaster from hell. It's a tough tion just right, then I feel great. And what JIM: If you love music enough, that's thing for anybody, just dealing with a makes it even better is if it's something what you'll do. You'll try to write and family and your business. that I really feel should be on the tune, no maybe try to get in a band. That's the DENNY: Hopefully anybody who has a matter what it is. I really enjoy that. greatest thing of all, being in a band, it family and a new baby, no matter what Fortunately you get to do the great seems to me. I say that because I've never you do, is going to want to take time off to records from time to time where you real- been in a band. be with the baby, more than just going to ly get to play, and that keeps you excit- RF: Jeff, is that true? Santa Barbara for the weekend. ed—as opposed to the other thing where you're just filling a role. But I get off fill- ing a role also. RF: We touched on what happens when it's over, but how do you prepare for the future as a studio musician? VINNIE: In our case, every gig is the last, really. HARVEY: That's how I look at it. I've been doing it since 1970, and at first I fig- ured I'd be the flavor of the month for four or five years. It's been 20, and I still approach a session like it's my last one. I also listen to everybody and everything, and I get inspired by even a little thing I hear, and I'll go home and start playing that. Then I'll incorporate that into my repertoire, and the next thing I know, it comes out sounding different, which gets me juiced up. I'll listen to something Vinnie did and go, "Oh man, that's slick," and I'll start doing something like that, and now I've version of it. JIM: That's what I tell guys who ask me about the studio thing. I say, "Look, for- get about the studio, like it doesn't exist." You can ask me a couple of little ques- tions about music, but don't ask me how and what and why. If you love music, that's going to be the force that keeps you there. You'll listen, like Harvey said, and you'll get inspired, which keeps music in you. RF: Reality-wise, preparing for the future, do any of these artists you play for ever give you any points or anything like that? HARVEY: Of course that's happened in isolated situations. MIKE: It's not a reality. It happens, but it's not by any means a norm. HARVEY: You have to save and do all the things that the regular person does. You JIM: I believe that for any musician, no worry that this is it? too, for anybody, and especially for us if matter what kind you are, the support you JIM: Around 1984/'85 that happened to we're going to hang in there, because it's get from your wife or your girlfriend can me. I thought, "Well, this is it, it's gone, tight. be the thing that allows you to go or just it's dead, no more calls." People like Abe RF: What happens when the work cur- cuts you down. I've seen both sides of Laboriel were saying, "Do you know of tails? that situation from friends. I've been any road gigs?" When I heard him say MIKE: Hopefully you're prepared to do blessed with a great family life. I've been that, I thought I was going to fall on the something else. Even before I got blessed with a wife who put up with more floor. I thought there wasn't going to be involved in the business there were the than I can say. Wherever I am today, I'm anything anymore called "studio work." Hal Blaines, the John Guerins, and the there because of her, and I mean that VINNIE: I used to worry a lot more than Earl Palmers who said, "It's never going 100%. She worked when I wasn't working I do, but I think we could be the last gen- to end," three, four dates a day. You're at all; I was playing in garages with peo- eration. Although, in a way, it's turning fooling yourself if you think that way. ple. She worked for the first five years of around. JIM: Like Harvey said, you've got to be our marriage. I'd do a $15 bar mitzvah or DENNY: I think it's turning around. just like anybody else. You've got to be a little Mexican wedding, but most of the Think about the people you work with smart with your money. time I was playing jazz in somebody's now that you may have worked with less RF: But Jim, an insurance salesman may front room, and she worked while she was four years ago. You're working for them retire at 65. Do you all honestly think pregnant with three kids right up until three or four times the amount of time you're still going to be doing this at 65? she went into the hospital to have those now because they want more live drums, HARVEY: I'd love to be playing. I mean, babies. I know that's a key factor in my so the work is opening up. if I love it and the music is still happen- whole situation. If I hadn't had her in my JEFF: Don't you guys feel like in the last ing, I might be. life all these years, I'd probably be dead, couple of years you're being rediscov- JEFF: My old man just turned 60, and first of all, and if I wasn't dead, I don't ered? he's been busier than he ever was in his know what I'd be doing. But I certainly JIM: I guess I could say that. whole life. wouldn't still be playing music. The rela- JEFF: I know producers just coming up VINNIE: Look at Jim Chapin. tionship is a key factor for a musician. now who are going, "Wow, Jim Keltner," JIM: Sol Gubin. Irv Cottier died at some- RF: What about the ups and downs dur- because of this trend of coming back to thing like 70. ing the slow times? Do you get acoustics. HARVEY: It all depends on the situation. depressed? Is it frightening? Do you VINNIE: But perseverance is important MIKE: You don't want to wind up at 65

having to work. say, "Will you hit the center of the JIM: That's a big difference. drum?" and then you start playing and MIKE: Then it's a drag. Then you've you don't. never seen the light at the end of the tun- DENNY: One time this engineer came nel, and you never will. out and said, "Your snare drum sounds RF: Let's open it up a little. Are there any horrible," and so I hit this other snare questions that any of you would like to and he said, "That's much better." I put ask each other? it up, he walked back in the control room, HARVEY: Yeah, backbeats—in the studio and I took it off and put the old one back do you guys play more in the center of the because I really thought the other one drum or rimshots ? sounded better. So I hit the drum and JEFF: I always hit the rim. said, "Is this better?" And he said, "Man, MIKE: I'd say 98% of the time it's the it's so much better. I knew that was going rim. to be the drum." STEVE: I'd have to say more toward the HARVEY: Everyone play open drums? center of the drum, although I don't think MIKE: Pretty much. There might be lit- I ever play directly on the center. tle bits of padding here and there. JIM: Lately I've been playing all over the JIM: I have two heads on the bass drum. drum, and when people ask me about it, I HARVEY: I've been using two heads a lit- say, "That's the way all my favorite drum- tle bit. mers I ever listened to play, and that's the JIM: I copy every one of these guys in way I like to play." this room, and all the other ones who are DENNY: 98% rimshots. not here. The other day I got to play on VINNIE: Mostly rimshots. Vinnie's drums, and the first thing I said HARVEY: Far out. How about the engi- to the Drum Doctor after that was, "Tune neers who try to ask you to play exclusive- me up a set of drums just like Vinnie's, ly in the center of the drum? When you're with the same head configuration," and I getting your sound in the beginning, they liked the intervals he had. I've done that with Jeff many times. That might sound to whatever is the most comfortable way like a real chump kind of thing to do, but to come up with the sound you want. I can't help it. If I like the way somebody MIKE: I can get more power out of play- plays, they just get into my system right ing with my foot down than I can with my away—their sound, and the way they play. toes. HARVEY: You play flat-footed? JEFF: Really? That's weird. JEFF: I play with my toes. DENNY: Do you play out of the drum? JIM: I played flat-footed for years, but MIKE: Yeah, out of the drum. when I saw the way Jeff played, I started JEFF: That sounds the best, when you to play like him. I noticed that Jeff played play off the head. like Gadd. RF: Something Jeff mentioned earlier: HARVEY: I play with my toes, but I've Do most producers expect you or want developed playing with my heel down you to play on the click as opposed to because there are certain situations behind a little bit, and what do you prefer where it calls for it to be so accurate, and to do? in order to do that, I have to put my heel HARVEY: That's a problem. down. RF: Why? MIKE: Vinnie, you play on toe, right? HARVEY: I don't find many players who And you play off of the head. really can play with a click other than VINNIE: I do it both ways now. If I don't drummers. The drummer gets stuck play that loud, I keep my heel down. playing with the click, and the rest of the STEVE: I play both ways, but I've been band is playing all over the place. The playing with clogs, which elevate my heel piano player is playing on top of the beat so that when I'm playing flat-footed, I'm and the bass player is missing. kind of in a 50/50 position. The type of JEFF: I have a big gripe about that. I music usually defines the technique, noticed during the years drum machines although basically I'm most comfortable were happening, you'd hear your key- playing flat-footed. It really comes down board player and guitar player friends' demos, and they were playing to a drum machine, and you'd go, "Wow, they seem to be fitting pretty good with that." Now, out of that context in the studio, they're sitting next to you while you're playing drums, and you're digging the phones, you're on the same cue, and you go, "Man, they're real loud in the phones." Why aren't they listening to us as they would a machine? MIKE: That's right. The machine is generic, it just goes. It doesn't have a vibe, so your mind doesn't go to the machine. It goes to everything else around the machine, so you don't think about it. And when guys are playing to a click, that's what they do. Everybody lis- tens to the click, rather than listening to the drummer, who is dictating the basis of the groove, and that's what happens. In a lot of situations now, they'll take the click out of everybody else's phones and... HARVEY: ...and they still can't play with it. JEFF: I've been on sessions where the writer or producer has predetermined what the click tempo will be and has already striped the tape. He's put some sequence overdubs on it, and you go, "This is not the right tempo for this groove." VINNIE: They don't listen sometimes, and it's a drag. You're running it down with the click and you're going, "This is great," and then they put the click on, and then they go, "It doesn't feel good." MIKE: The classic thing is you walk into a situation that has had a machine on it. It was cut to a click and has four keyboard parts on it, and all of them have MIDI delay, so none of them are on the click. Then the bass player has put his part on and he has his interpretation of where he's playing with the machine. Then the guitar player has his interpretation of where he is playing with the machine, because neither of them played at the same time. And then the keyboards are spread from one extreme to the other, and the producer says, "Make it right." That's the hardest thing in the world. HARVEY: That hurts me so badly when it's like that. It hurts my spirit and every- thing about my playing; that will bum me out almost more than anything else. JEFF: That is the biggest bummer.

RF: So what do you do in those situa- tions? MIKE: You have to do the best you can. You know going in what the situation is. When they call you on the phone, they say, "This is what we want," and all you can think is that hopefully it won't be the worst scenario, and if it is, you just have to grit your teeth and do it. JEFF: I'll try to talk them into redoing it. Usually they'll listen if you calmly explain it to them. "Give me the click and let me go out there and cut it." MIKE: A lot of people will agree to that, but most of the time when the drummer is called in, everything is done. They don't want to have to redo all the vocals or re-stripe the tape. JEFF: They have to make a decision as to whether to blow off 20 grand that they spent making this track before they called you, which was a bad mistake for them to do, and they should understand that. If they want to keep it, they're not going to keep me there four hours trying to get that right, so that's when I start saying, "Maybe I'm the wrong guy." If I'm there under three hours and it's bogus and I know they're bogus, I'll say, "Look, you don't have to pay me, see you later." It's impossible. It's not good for the mind, it's not good for your family, your wife, other motorists on the freeway, and your best friends. JIM: I got around that with , who always bring in semi-finished tracks for you to put the drums on. I lis- tened to the track and the time was everywhere, but the vocals were beautiful, so I talked them into using my SP1200. We did it right from scratch and that turned out to be "Kokomo," which turned out to be a big record for them. That was nothing but 1200, my drum sounds and percussion. Even the cymbals were really good samples of my own cym- bals. I will not go through that pain of sit- ting there with real drums in a room that is not best-suited for drum sounds, and try to physically play to a track where the time isn't right. Like you said, it's bad for your soul. RF: Any other questions you have for each other, or gripes ? JIM: I don't think any of us have any major gripes other than these little tech- nical things. It's great to be a drummer. What else would you want to be? Jeff could be an artist, but personally I couldn't be anything but a drummer. I don't have any other skills whatsoever. I could work in a plant nursery. VINNIE: We were talking about planning for the future. What if you don't know how to do anything else? I could drive a cab. MIKE: I don't know if we resolved the question of the young players coming up. DENNY: I think there's opportunity. MIKE: I don't know. Ten years ago there was. In all honesty, I would say that's a pipe dream. But I would say if somebody is exceptional and has perseverance, any- thing can happen. DENNY: I've only been doing this the last few years, and if I can do it, they can do it. MIKE: I'm not saying it's not possible, but it's not what it used to be, and it never will be. JEFF: I don't know, though. Remember when disco started happening? How many cats do you know who moved to LA during disco? Right before disco was big, there were five drummers, five piano players, five bass players, and five guitar players who did all the work. Disco came in and people wanted live drums. There's potential I think with the acoustics going full circle and the demand for musicians and not so much for programming. So there may be a surge in the business again. You can't wipe out the possibility of work starting to happen again, just like in the '70s, when there was work for every- body. JIM: It's just like any other time. I really do believe that every generation thinks their time is special in a certain way—and it is—but there will always be room for somebody who has the talent and perse- verance. That's become the tricky point; how do you know you have that? You don't know, do you?

Looking back, that advice couldn't have Well, I am pleased to say that he been better. I kept playing—at every actually won the next contest. He also There Is possible opportunity. I would go to won the following contest, and later this rehearsals just to play with a big band. I year will perform in the "finals" for some No Substitute would attend jam sessions and go to big prizes. nightclubs where I could sit in. I took The point of the story is that all every type of job—no matter what type of experience, whether positive or negative, For Experience music or what sort of money (if any) was can be helpful—if you learn something involved. Then I began to understand. from it. However, if you are too frustrated "There is no substitute for experience." or discouraged to try, no learning is One of my students recently decided to possible. by Roy Burns enter a drum solo contest at a large You really can't practice playing. The music store in California. At his next only way to improve your playing is by I have several students who are quite lesson he said to me, "I playing. This is why some frustrated with their playing and their totally choked. I started to drummers play well even careers, even though they are very play, and I got so nervous though they have had very talented. They have all the tools, but their that I did everything I didn't little training. Contrary to own playing is still disappointing to want to do. I really played "I took every some people's opinions, it them. badly." He was devastated, is not the lack of drum I have also received a number of letters and his confidence was at a type of lessons that makes them that echo the same sense of frustration. real low. good. It is all the playing It seems, at times, that your own playing Basically his mistake was job—no they have done. Now, if you just doesn't sound good to you, while so that he tried to play have both studied and many other players seem to sound better everything he knew in five matter what done a lot of playing, than you do. minutes—and he really chances are that you will For all of you young drummers out botched it all up. For- type of music be an even better player. there who are experiencing this tunately, there was another Naturally, we don't all have feeling—take heart! All young drummers contest in about four weeks. or money was the same amount of talent must pass through this stage at some So the first thing I did was or the same opportunities point. You do not have a serious flaw; you to put the contest into involved. to study, play, and learn. simply lack experience. perspective. "A five-minute But in order to play well, When I was a young drummer in New drum solo, no matter how Then I you simply must do a lot of York City, I found that the most difficult you play, is not going to playing. This is the only thing for me to achieve was consistency. I make or break your career. began to way to break through the would play very well one night, but a Let's regroup and decide frustration phase that all night or two later I just wouldn't be able how to approach the next understand." young drummers go to get going. The feel had mysteriously contest." through. If you do not left me. What was so easy a couple of I told him, "To begin get—or create—the oppor- nights earlier now seemed to be with, you now have some tunity to play a lot during completely lost. experience with the sit- this phase, the chances are Fortunately, I was working with many uation. That is a benefit. that you will never reach older players, and I sought their advice. Now let's figure out a solo your potential. "What is wrong with me?" I asked. In that has some form, but still The key word is most cases, the response was, "Relax! leaves room for improv- "experience." You must You just need to play more." isation. Select some of your best grooves, get out of the house and play. You must The answer, although sincere, seemed and don't try to play everything you know. get out and hear other players. Practicing too simple. I was looking for some secret Picture ahead of time what you are and taking lessons are great ways to learn, formula that would have a dramatic effect generally going to do. Play the solo in but you must play in order to develop on me and my playing. I was disappointed your mind. Don't memorize it—just play your skills. Remember, "There is no that no one had given me a little more to within the form you have set up for substitute for experience." Go for it! go on. "You just need to play more!" yourself. And most of all, go have some didn't seem to be enough. fun! It's not the end of the world."

Richard & the Shadows. Shane Fenton & SG: Were you given confidence by the the Fentones were in this category too, other guys and the producer? but the Hollies belonged to the new wave BE: On the whole, yes, although Ron of the stage to take a bow, and I was of bands who used strong harmony vocals Richards, the producer, did occasionally standing next to Susan Maughan. I as a cornerstone of their sound. They tell me to simplify things. I quickly thought, "Hey great! This is showbiz!" were a very exciting band. It was a very learned to knuckle under more in the Here I was, a 19-year-old kid from exciting time. studio. It wasn't like playing live. There who "should have had a trade SG: Listening to those early Hollies was more to consider: Keeping good time in his hands," and I was standing on a records from '63 and '64, you were became more important, playing consis- concert platform in London looking down already showing a maturity of taste and an tent hits on the drums. More control was a glamorous singer's cleavage! [laughs] individuality of style that seemed to be needed. We used to be pretty wild live, Then the original drummer in the lacking from most of the drummers in but we found that we had to curb it a bit Hollies left, and I was invited to join. similar bands at the time. Can you in the studio. It took time for me to get That was in 1963, when the whole music explain this? into the habit of really laying it down. As thing was really starting to take off, and I BE: Well, I had listened to a lot of jazz, you get older you appreciate the value of became a member of the Hollies. and I'd had experience playing it. I had underplaying. But I wouldn't change SG: The Hollies came from the same also played in a big band, which required much of what I did in those days, because part of the world as you, and Tony Hicks discipline. But I also liked rock, and I felt it is an expression of what was happening was already a member, but did you that often it wasn't getting the drumming musically at the time, and chronicles me already see their potential as being it deserved. Okay, you would get the pure growing up as a person. What you hear on stronger than that of the Fentones? rock 'n' roll with the straight backbeat, the drums is the story of my life, from '63 BE: Tony and I were almost family, so which was fine, but I didn't just want to up to now. there was a strong bond there. But yes, I be a pulse. I wanted to be up there build- SG: When you play '60s numbers in your was very keen to join the Hollies. I could ing frameworks and enhancing what was concerts these days, do you reproduce the hear what I could do for them. They had going on. My experience prior to the original drum parts? a lot to offer me, and I had a lot to offer Hollies had given me all the ingredients, BE: In places, yes. Like in "Look them. There had been quite a few bands so that when I joined them I was able to Through Any Window," I do the fills and around for a while that consisted of a put it all together. It was as if it was phrasing very much like the original. But singer and a backing band, like Cliff meant to be. that's mainly because it's "show-off time." If I re-recorded it, though, I whisky-mac please? Yes, Bob, I suppose SG: It's interesting that you made your wouldn't do it in the same way. I'd under- we could try it." So I got the bass drum mark so that people like and play rather than overplay. Otherwise, mic' as well as the overhead, and I had Phil Collins now cite you as a primary when I'm on stage I'm there to enjoy the curtains over the bass drum, and that influence. myself. I like to surprise the band, do the record was "Stay." You can hear the bass BE: Cozy Powell, yeah. He's great, he's a unexpected, but ultimately coax the best drum really well on it. good friend. Last time I went to see him possible performances from all con- I was aware that when I was playing live play was with Whitesnake. We were talk- cerned. I needed to have everything live and ring- ing before the show, and he said, "You'll You must remember that with those ing to get as much projection as possible, see that I put some of your early stuff into early records we were playing onto quar- because we didn't mike up the drums in my solo." I thought, "What? I never did a ter-inch tape—two-track. You'd go into those days. But when I went into the stu- drum solo—not really," but when I heard the studio and perform the number with dio I had to play for the studio. I was into him I knew what he meant. There were the whole band together. There was none tuning and damping for specific situa- some recognizable licks that I used to of this spending months in the studio tions right from the word go. play. constructing things in layers. The Beatles recorded their first album in one day, and I think the Hollies took about the same amount of time with theirs. There was sometimes the option of double-tracking a vocal, but apart from that we didn't use overdubs. The early albums from most of the northern bands tended to be their stage show. We all did a lot of American R&B numbers. The trick was to find a good one and record it before someone else did. But if there was a shortage of material, it was an incentive to write our own songs. I remember getting into miking up the drums in the studio very early on. This engineer we had at EMI just didn't seem to be on the case at all. He put one mic' above the drumkit, and that would be it. And yet I'd done a radio broadcast at the BBC, and the old guy there had put one above the kit and one in front of the bass drum, and the sound had been really good. So I asked the guy at EMI for one, and he said, [putting on a pedantic south- ern accent] "We find at EMI that we can get everything we want with one micro- phone." I said, 'Yeah, but the bass drum really needs to come out on this number; I phrase with the vocals, you see." He said, "Yes, well, I think it'll be fine." So I said, [with a sense of urgency in the voice] "Look, I've got my granny's curtains with me for wrapping the drums in. If I drape them over the bass drum and we put a mic' in front, we can get a really tight, clear bass drum sound." "Well," he said, "I don't know, but we're having a break now." So we all trooped over to the pub, then it was, "Peter, what are you having to drink?" "Thank you, I'll have a whisky- mac please." "Peter, about this bass drum mic'..." "Yes, well—could I have another While we were recording the Evolution King, who used to do a lot of teaching. He coming out, I suppose. album, I got a burst appendix. The others told me that he had written out that bass SG: These days it seems drum machines didn't want to carry on without me, but drum part and was teaching his students have taken away much of that sort of for various reasons it was necessary to get to play it. This made me feel a bit spontaneity. the album completed. They used Mitch strange. I've never been one for writing BE: Well, we're copying drum machines Mitchell, , and Dougie ideas out—except if you're arranging for now. But I do think that for the modern Wright. Graham Nash told me that Mitch a band. It should be natural, it should drummers, they have been a great spur. came into the studio and said, "You'd like come from the heart. Perhaps it's a good They really keep you on your toes. me to play the way Bob would play?" and idea for teaching particular techniques, Compared with the early '60s, when I was proceeded to reproduce my style. It's very but there's something almost dishonest getting it together, some of the new guys flattering when people do that. about writing down a part that was origi- are quite frightening. They are technical- On "Just One Look" I did a slightly nally created spontaneously. It belongs as ly wonderful—and that's a good result of unusual bass drum pattern. There was a part of the piece it was created drum machines. Also, for young guys who TV drummer in London called Frank for—nowhere else. My jazz background are learning, practicing to a drum machine is much more interesting than doing it with a metronome. SG: Can we talk a bit about the Hollies? You are one of the few bands who "made it" in the '63/'64 period and who have kept going with principally the same line- up. It's probably just you and . BE: Yes, but the Stones have had long gaps during which they would disappear, and we've never stopped working. Okay, we've had months off—sometimes a few months—but we've been working consis- tently. Since we've had the Number-one with the re-release of "He Ain't Heavy," people have been coming up to us saying, "Great! You're back on the road again." But we never went away. Britain, Germany, Australia, the States—nothing has ever stopped! SG: What's the secret of your longevity? BE: There are a few things that have combined to give us longevity. The changes that we've had, funny enough, have spurred us on to greater things. For instance, Graham Nash left us on December 8th 1968—I remember because it's my birthday—and we got Terry Sylvester in, and he did a great job. Eventually he was singing the harmony parts even better than Nash did. Eric Haydock, our original bass player, was a really firey player. He had a lot to do with giving those early records their excite- ment. When he left we got Bernie Calvert, who wasn't such a great techni- cian on bass, but he also played piano, which gave us another dimension to use on stage—with Bernie on piano and Tony Hicks switching to bass. From about '69 onwards we used regular keyboard play- ers on stage and on records. was on a lot of the things from that peri- od, including "He Ain't Heavy." hits were very "teenage" both in style and Jennifer, and Graham's then wife's maid- We've always swung towards the right lyrics. How do you feel about still doing en name was Eccles. So we wrote people. It's been spooky in a way, because them in the'90s? "," recorded it—top of the everything has always worked out. BE: We still do them because we're not charts. That's how easy it was in those Coupled with this, we've always been able fools; [laughs] we know they're still want- days. We knew what we were doing with to sniff out a good song—something that ed. "Carrie Ann" was a very successful those songs; we could smell money, we would work well with the Hollies' three- record. Then we did "King Midas In were making commercial records. part harmony, something that sat just Reverse," which was a flop by our stan- It did work against us in other ways, right with the overall sound. If we liked dards at the time; it got to number 16 on though. I feel that the Hollies have often something we would record it. the singles charts, when we normally been looked on as an "uncool" band. You Also there's always been a great deal of expected to get into the top three. So don't find so many drummers admitting hard work and dedication. Clarkie sings Clarkie and Nash put their heads togeth- to being influenced by Bobby Elliott as by his balls off every night, and Tony spends er and said, "Let's come up with another other drummers from the '60s. And Nash so much of his time making sure that 'Carrie Ann.'" Allan's wife's name was had a good deal to live down when he things are just right. A lot of people just walk on stage, plug in, and get on with it—maybe not so much the new guys, but certainly the '60s/'70s bunch. But we've never been like that; there's always been a lot of care and attention to detail. We do feel honored to be in the business. I think it goes back to the '60s, when we were a bunch of northern lads who should have had "trades in their hands" and thought maybe this job wasn't going to last too long. We had a feeling that it was all very special; and we still feel that way. When things are going right, it's sheer joy. There are problems sometimes: For instance, the other night we played Portsmouth Guildhall, and the sound was bloody awful. We do a series of theaters with excellent acoustics—the overtones are absorbed—then we come to a place where the sound is bouncing around all over the place and we've got no control. The audience was happy, but we weren't because we knew that the sound wasn't right. Things like that get to you. SG: I imagine that back in the '60s the sound quality was more or less irrelevant. Everybody was screaming at you, and you were very quiet by today's standards. BE: Yes, bands were very quiet by today's standards. The drums weren't miked up, and we only had a bass amp and a guitar amp. Graham Nash used to strum acous- tically. I don't remember even having a decent PA system in those days. I think we had a couple of columns either side of the stage. We used to go out and tour big theaters solidly for seven or eight weeks at a time with that sort of setup. It must have been awful, but nobody seemed to mind, [laughs] SG: Sticking with the "then and now" theme for a bit longer—some of your '60s joined Crosby, Stills & Nash. He used to them as influences: Evolution, Butterfly, Hollies Sing Dylan album, but it wasn't go onstage in his kaftan and say to the —but we never as simple as that. We'd been doing audience, "Can you imagine me with the achieved the big sales. Then we could put "Blowin" In The Wind" with him for Hollies in a white suit?" while Crosby and out a Twenty Golden Greats and it would some time, and it used to go very well. We Stills were giggling with him. But dear go straight to Number-one. What we took an orchestra on tour with us at that Graham would fail to mention that it was were doing on albums wasn't the same as time, and I used to conduct them with a he who had suggested that we should what we were doing on singles. We used stick over my shoulder. It was a very wear white suits! the albums for experimenting and enjoy- pleasant time. We added "The Times We made so many successful singles, ing ourselves, but they never matched up They Are A-Changin'" to the repertoire, some of them about teenage memories, to the success of the singles. and that went well; so it was an obvious that it unfortunately worked against us SG: Was it frustration about this that progression to do a Dylan album. Then with the albums we made. There were caused Graham Nash to leave? Graham said, "I've written this thing some great albums that were very well- BE: At the time the press made a big called 'Marrakesh Express,'" so we received critically—people talk about thing about him not approving of the recorded it. We reckoned that it was a good album track, but we decided to stick with the idea of making a complete album of Dylan songs. We'd been molded by our recent history, and we felt we had to do a Dylan album, because there were ready- made songs that we could stamp our identity on. So we did the Dylan LP with Terry Sylvester's voice replacing Nash's on "Blowing In The Wind," and it went to the top of the album charts. We took the easy option, but it was the successful option, and it was a very enjoyable period for all of us. The press tried to make out that that was the main reason Graham left, but it wasn't. We had worked in the States with people like the Mamas & the Papas and the , and Graham became particularly good friends with them. We all did, but he was in love with America. He wanted to go out there and carve out a new life for himself. SG: You did a reunion album and tour with him in '83. BE: That came about because of a single called "Holliedaze," which was a medley of old hits strung together with a disco beat added. There was a spate of these records in the U.K. at the time. You had a Beatles medley, but it wasn't the Beatles, it was a bunch of session guys from Holland. We decided that if anybody was going to do this with our songs it was going to be us. So we went into Abbey Road, got out the original quarter-inch masters, and edited them together by "varispeeding" individual tracks to match the tempos. Then I added bass drum "fours" on a Linndrum and offbeat claps, and I put in a few cymbal crashes to cover the "joins." That's all we did, and that was "Holliedaze," another Top-20 hit sin- gle. We were asked to do [a weekly chart show on British national SG: You've had a few changes over the about that time I bought my first Paiste TV], and they suggested that we might do years. cymbal; it was an 18" Formula 602, which it with the same guys who were on the BE: We talked earlier about the "mucky" I put rivets in. That cymbal is on all the original records. So we got hold of Eric Premier kit of the early days. That was Hollies records right through the '60s Haydock and Graham, who came over traded in for a Trixon in ruby red pearl. I and into the '70s. I've still got it. I've been from the States specially to do it. used the Trixon snare drum for a short using Paiste cymbals ever since. I love The following day we were in the stu- time before changing it for a Ludwig them; they are so musical and so consis- dio recording tracks for an album, and Aerolite. I had that setup on a few of the tent in quality. I now have some of the Graham came along to have a listen. But early Hollies recordings, including "Stay." Signature series, which are the best cym- if there's a microphone around, Nash is The Trixon bass drum had a plastic head bals I've ever heard. on to it. [laughs] So there he was singing on the front, and a calfskin head on the The reason I didn't keep that Ludwig harmony again. We did the whole album batter side. It gave a great cracking "Don kit was that there was a guy from Premier with him—What Goes Around—and that Lamond" sound. The odd thing about who was following me around various stu- culminated in us doing an American tour the Trixon kit was that standard-sized dios, pestering me to use their gear. The with him. It was very nice; it was good to heads wouldn't fit it. They were generally deal was that they would give me two be working with Graham and a joy to slightly bigger than the shell, so that they Premier kits, but I had to give them my work in the States again. Graham carries would go on the drum, but the hoop Ludwig. The main Premier set I used quite a lot of "clout" over there—not just would block up the holes in the rim that was in gold sparkle, and it was quite good, because of his music, but because of his the tension bolts passed through. To but I couldn't get through to them that work with the peace movement and his overcome this problem, I would place the they should make a 13" tom-tom. They interest in the oceans of the world. So head on the drum and the rim on the wouldn't have it. They said that the 8x12 initially "Holliedaze" might have been a head, and run a drill through each hole, and the 10x14 were what people wanted, rather questionable project, but it had a channeling a clear passage for each ten- and there was no demand for a 9x13. marvelous beneficial spin-off in this par- sion rod. A case of build your own drums! Every other drum company at the time ticular reunion. After the Trixon, I got a Ludwig Super was making a 9x13, but not them. SG: Can we talk about drums? Classic in silver sparkle, which I wish I Another thing that annoyed me was that BE: [with feigned reluctance] Oh, go on still had. It was a bass drum, hanging they used to make a flush-base hi-hat then. tom, floor tom, and a 400 snare drum. At stand that used to slide around all over the place. I didn't use this myself—I had a Rogers—but earlier on I had designed a spur to stop these things from slipping. It had a clamp to go around the stem and a couple of spikes point- ing forward; it worked very well. I suggested they might like to manufacture this. They said, "Fine, we'll send it to the factory for them to have a look at," and that was the last I saw or heard of it. They later said that it must have gotten lost. Premier just didn't seem interested in progressing at that time; but they looked after me quite well. The publicity was good. I used to have half-page ads in Melody Maker, saying, "Bobby Elliott wouldn't use anything else." [laughs] I had a three-year deal with Premier, and when that three years was up in 1968,1 happened to be in Chicago. I was invited to the Ludwig headquarters at 1728 North Damen, and that was it—the temple of all my idols. For years I'd been looking at pic- tures of people like Joe Morello playing Ludwig, and there I was in the factory. I became a Ludwig endorser, sporting a blue sparkle Super Classic kit. I had to leave the Premier over there so that I could bring the Ludwigs back in the cases, but it didn't bother me. In 1970 I got another Super Classic kit. This one had two rack toms: a 9x13 and a 10x14, with a 16x16 floor tom. I've still got that kit; it's lovely. The only slightly disappointing thing about it is that it was made just after they changed the badge to that '70s design. I much prefer the old badge. My fourth Ludwig kit, which I got in '78, was in natural maple with a full set of concert toms and a 16x18 floor tom. There were two Black Beauty snare drums: a 5 1/2" and a 6 1/2". I was using a 6 1/2" Super Sensitive on records. I love those drums, and I've still got them, but I changed to Remo about three years ago, when [Kinks drummer] Bob Henrit persuaded me to try them. I'm very pleased with them. SG: What qualities do you look for in drums? BE: I like the "stinging" quality in my Remo toms. They are rather like timbales, with that sort of cut. I like a cutting quality in a drum sound; it gives you penetration. I think it goes back to the early days when you had to fight to be heard. SG: Do you do much practicing? BE: Not as much as I should. Actually I've never been one to practice for long periods. When there's a tour coming up, I'll set up some stuff in the barn and play a bit to make sure I can still do it. When I'm at home, not working with the Hollies, I'll sit in with local bands, or play in local jazz clubs. They know me and they know that they can call on me if their regular drummer is off for any reason. I find that stimulating. I get almost as ner- vous doing that as I do when I'm playing with the Hollies. I find it quite a challenge to do a gig when I don't know what the hell I'm going to be playing. SG: When you say that you get nervous playing with the Hollies, this must be adrenaline rather than nerves, correct? BE: I think the two are connected. When you know that some- thing's coming up and you have got to be in form and deliver the goods, your body reacts. I think it's a mixture of nerves, adrenaline, and perhaps self-doubt. Sometimes you do a fantas- tic show and you think, "That was great!" Then the following day when there's another show coming up, you start to worry and say, "Can I do that again?" SG: Without wishing to be rude or unkind, you've been doing it so long that you might be expected to be almost blase about it. BE: No, we are very aware of our respon- sibilities as performers. Clarkie still gets very nervous; there was a time when he would be almost physically sick before he went on stage. I think you grow into the situation as a tour progresses. You sweat a lot at the beginning and then you get into it. I enjoy the tension. When I'm not working I miss it. The normal time comes to play and you get restless. I can't just go into the barn and play; that doesn't do any good. It's like suffering from withdrawal. On the other hand, when you're in the middle of a tough tour, you look forward to a night off. SG: You said that your influences helped you form your style in the early days. Do you still have influences who might affect your playing? BE: Oh, yes. I'm very interested in the new kids like Vinnie Colaiuta and Sonny Emory, but I haven't actually seen them play. I did get to see Ricky Lawson do a clinic in Liverpool, and I was knocked out by him. He's such a powerhouse drum- mer. I can see why all the big names like want him behind the drums. Yeah, I'm still inspired by great players that I see and hear; but I don't go around looking for new licks that I might use to make the Hollies sound different; it isn't as blatant as that. SG: You seem to have maintained a freshness over the years. Are you aware of any stimuli that helps with this? BE: It's sheer enjoyment coupled with loyalty to the Hollies. There has been a strong bond over the years, particularly between Tony Hicks and myself. There have been "ifs." I used to be offered stu- dio work, which I hardly ever took—partly because my equipment was always in the back of a van somewhere—but mostly because the Hollies have always worked so hard, and I wanted to give all my ener- gies to the band. If I had branched out, things might have happened differently, but I believe that the loyalty would have remained. It's a great musical adventure, one that I feel privileged to be part of. As I often say, it's a boyhood dream come true—playing rock 'n' roll and getting paid for it! Come to think of it, maybe I'm like my father cabinet-maker after all—a craftsman working with wood. you have to clamp 360° around the part so that you don't crush or dent it from the pressure—as would happen with a prism Fast Clamps, which have completely clamp. We decided to stay with the circu- replaceable parts all the way through. lar split clamp design primarily for this RVH: The clamps in most other rack reason. systems are of a prismatic design so that The other disadvantage to a prism they can accommodate a wide range of clamp is that the flat surfaces of the sizes without having to change clamps. prism meet the circumference of the tub- The Collarlock system employs a differ- ing at only four points. This not only has ent clamp for each different size accesso- the potential for denting, but doesn't ry. Why did you choose what appears to offer maximum grip strength, which can be a much more complicated system? lead to slipping. With the circular split MG: There are two basic types of clamp- clamp design, you have surface-to-sur- ing designs: the prism clamp and the cir- face contact 360° around the tubing, cular split clamp. If you look in any thereby gaining maximum grip strength. mechanical textbook, you'll see that the Some people do a variation on the split prism clamp was originally designed for clamp design, where they hinge one side clamping solids. On a solid part, you can't of it and apply pressure just from the damage the item that you're clamping opposite side. That doesn't create the because it's a solid piece of material. The same type of clamping action as a split prism clamp was originally used in metal clamp, which you are clamping from both workshops, where you had vises that had sides of the circle. With that you can to clamp a great variety of sizes of materi- apply more even pressure all the way al. around the tube, and have less risk of The circular split clamp design was slippage than with a hinge design, where originally created for clamping tubing. you're clamping all on one side. With anything that is tubular in nature, RVH: When the Collarlock ad appeared in Modern Drummer around 1982, the concept seemed to involve clamping a horizontal bar on a drummer's existing cym- bal stands. Is that how the system began? MG: Actually our very first racks were all free-standing; we didn't make anything that attached to cymbal stands. The origi- nal rack we made for Rocket Norton was basically the Collarlock system that went into mass production in 1982, and it had free- standing legs. The cymbal-stand idea came afterwards, in an effort to offer something to drummers who already had a sub- stantial investment in hardware and/or were still pretty tradi- tional-stand oriented. RVH: It wasn't until 1983 that we saw an ad for a Collarlock sys- tem that involved legs and was self-supporting. By that time, both Pearl's and Tama's racks had come on the market—both of which became very big sellers. How did that affect Collarlock? MG: The proliferation of other racks helped me tremendously. When Tama, in particular, started running their first ad, my sales quadrupled. They brought the idea of the rack system to the public in a very big way. And since I was the only other com- pany at the time offering a similar type of rack made out of cir- cular tubing, I got all the additional sales to people who didn't want to have Tama equipment with their particular brand of drums. I was the only generic brand out there, so people would buy my stuff because it had no particular name. They weren't mixing Pearl with Yamaha, or Tama with Pearl. That may not be so much of a problem now, but at one point in time drummers seemed to want to keep their sets a little more consistent. RVH: Where would you place the popularity of the rack concept now—as opposed to traditional stands? Is it mainly something for professionals, or do you also see interest from less-experi- enced players? MG: Many people think that racks are only for high-level pros with enormous kits, but I actually find that I'm probably selling more systems for your typical five-piece kit with two mounted toms over the bass drum than just about anything. Our CBS 21, which simply stands for "Collarlock Bar System, two toms over one bass," is our most popular system. Kids are coming into music stores and saying, "I want a drumset and I want a rack system with it." We sell all kinds of systems with the Tama Rockstar and Pearl Export kits, because kids have gotten so con- ditioned to seeing drumsets with racks now. It seems every advertiser is doing it, and all the bands on videos have rack sys- tems. It's part of the image. RVH: To some less image-conscious drummers it might seem that a rack system is impractical for a small kit. MG: Well, of course, once you start with a rack, you can always add to it. That's a benefit. But there is also a comfort factor, even on a smaller kit. If you're talking about a small kit with lightweight stands and just a couple of small cymbals, then a rack system would actually be bulkier and there would be noth- ing gained. However, if a drummer is going to play a four- or five-piece kit with massive, double-braced stands that weigh 13 or 14 pounds each, then a bar system—even to replace one tom mount and two straight cymbal stands—becomes not only com- fortable and practical, but lighter in weight. And when it comes to mounting toms, I think the popularity of racks is partly due to the influence of Most of the features of our system are adapters for everybody's drum brackets, RIMS. People are trying to get the hard- simply based on common sense. I really we make clamps to accommodate every- ware off of the drumshell more. Why don't take credit for coming up with any- body's different cymbal and mic' arms, should the bass drum be saddled with thing original. Anything that we're mak- and everything else. everything? By the time you attach two ing is used somewhere in some other I guess we have brought a few innova- toms and your ride and your splash cym- industry. All we've done is bring it to the tions to rack systems, though. One of bal to it, it's just become a cylindrical music industry. those is the Bar Connector that we man- platform for holding hardware. If you're RVH: So you don't consider yourself so ufacture. It's the only one on the market going to spend your money on RIMS much an "innovator" as an "adapter." that allows you to create a framework—in mounts for your toms, why shouldn't you MG: Right. And that's what my product whatever shape you can imagine—all on free up your bass drum too? is. It adapts to everything. We make one level. With anybody else's system, if you want to create a different shape of frame, you have to have the bars at differ- ent tiers where they meet—and there has to be a vertical support leg at that point. But our Bar Connector can bend without there being a vertical support at that spot. It's designed in five-degree increments, which is much more refined than any drummer would ever require. RVH: Playing devil's advocate for a moment: I use a rack system, in essen- tially a rectangular configuration. I've never had any particular feeling that I needed to bend or redirect any of the bars at their midpoints. MG: It's more of an aesthetic thing. You can generally get your drums in the posi- tions you want with a rectangular rack, but one may end up having to overhang the bar further than another. With our Bar Connector, you can create a frame that conforms to the way you want your drums to mold around you. Also, the way to avoid drums slipping is to keep their fulcrum points as close to the bar as pos- sible. Keeping the rack tight and the drums in close to the player helps to do that. RVH: One criticism I have heard about rack systems is that when the drums are hit hard, the whole thing starts bouncing. But part of that may be that they are abusing certain principles of physics, which they could easily avoid doing. MG: I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to say that in an ad in some form or another. Rikki Rockett plays a double bass drum configuration with two toms in the center, and refuses to have a center support. He wants the toms to move up and down like a trampoline. He loves the look of it. It makes it look like he's hitting with so much power that he's just bounc- ing those drums around. To maximize the savings in weight a Collarlock system can offer over tradi- tional stands—or other rack systems—we lines on our vertical tubes—every two that include memory clamps? have the only vertical leg supports for inches—so that whenever you set up, in MG: Yes, and I guess that's another holding up rack systems that actually whatever configuration, you can always innovation we've made, because we're the incorporate cymbal stands into them. We use those lines as a ruler; you don't have only ones who do that. Other manufac- found that a lot of people were putting to get out a level or a yardstick and mea- turers only offer memory clamps to fit cymbals at the corners of their racks, sure to make sure that both ends of the their own rack tubing. If it doesn't fit where the vertical supports were. Why bars were the same distance off the whatever you have, it can't memorize the have a clamp holding a cymbal boom ground. It makes setting up your kit the part. And when a drummer uses the right beside another clamp that's con- first time a lot faster. memory clamp that comes with the necting the crossbar to the support? Why RVH: You mentioned that you have accessory part, it only memorizes height. not just do it all in one? And if you add clamps for every size of accessory. Does It can't memorize angle, because it has two clamps and two L-arms, you can sus- pend your tom-toms. If you were using another rack manufacturer's product, doing exactly the same thing would require two more clamps with cymbal arms coming out of them. So you would actually have more equipment and more weight. So that's why we did that. It's a unique feature we haven't had copied yet. Of course, somebody will read this article and say, "We'd better start offering that feature." [laughs] There's another interesting thing that I think every company missed the boat on—although it was the simplest thing in the world and something that we've always had. We have always scribed height no way of mating with the rack clamp. more—and you don't need a tripod on been discontinued, in favor of a folding A- We've always had memory clamps for both of them to do it. frame design (involving l 1/2" tubular steel every single size since the very begin- RVH: In this day and age, with traditional main supports and polycarbonate hinges) ning. hardware being the size and weight it is, available in either fixed-height or tele- I really feel that the greatest asset of a it's hard to think of any disadvantage that scoping models. Both of these models rack system is its potential. It's really nice a rack system might have vs. all of the incorporate height lines every 2" and can for adding accessories on, even if you various advantages it offers. I assume you accommodate a 7/8" diameter cymbal start out with that little two-tom set. feel the same way or else you wouldn't be boom arm by means of a telescopic con- Suppose you want to add a in this line of work. nector. The T-shaped legs will be avail- or some sort of electronic trigger in front MG: Our original concept was stated on able only as special-order items for indi- of you. If you have a bar system, it's easy: our first brochure: Our system memo- viduals who already own Collarlock Bar your mounting spot is right there. You rizes the heights between all your things, Systems of that design. don't have to worry about buying a new the distances between all your things, and stand and finding a place to fit it into your the angles between all your things. We setup—not to mention your trap case. cover all three bases in order to offer Another thing that I've turned a num- complete memorization of your drumset. ber of people onto in my local market is You could put it together blindfolded. using legless hi-hat stands attached to the rack system. I find it just fabulous to have my hi-hat stay exactly where I want Editor's note: As we went to press, it all the time. And you don't necessarily Mark Gauthier informed us that the legs need a rack system to accomplish this. for Collarlock's Bar Systems had under- You can use two clamps and a straight bar gone a major redesign. The T-shaped to attach the hi-hat to one of your cymbal legs—with a square, horizontal member stands. With the two stands locked to sitting flush to the floor and an oversized each other, they won't "walk" any- key screw to facilitate its assembly—had FC: You say this with a certain emphasis, as if you were not too friendly towards these instruments. Brazilian cultural center. A lot of people used the studio for DUR: You're right. I don't like these new drum machines and rehearsals—people like Gerry Mulligan, Art Blakey, McCoy all these sampling machines that exist now. These machines are Tyner, Slide Hampton, and Olatunji. But then we started to have taking away jobs from musicians, and that is not right. It's a problems with the neighbors about the noise and the number of shame, because people's ears have become machine-oriented, people there after a certain time of the night. On Sundays we and so now musicians have to learn how to program these would have jam sessions and an afternoon feijoada [black bean machines or else learn how to play so that they sound like a stew]. I would like to open another studio, but nowadays that's a machine. There used to be more recording where everything much more expensive proposition. I just organized a Black was done "live," while now human participation is down to a Beans Revival over at Cuando, a club on the Lower East Side. bare minimum. It's not just percussionists and drummers who All the Brazilian artists living in New York participated, from are affected, either. I know a lot of different musicians who are Antonio Carlos Jobim, to Tania Maria, to Astrud Gilberto...the all going through changes because of this situation. So on my list just went on. There's no way any promoter could possibly next album every instrument has to be acoustic. I don't want any have assembled this all-star cast at one place for one continuous machines playing on this album. If I could set fire to all the elec- show. The turn-out was simply amazing! Unfortunately, not tronic instruments, I think I would. [laughs] enough money was collected in order to re-establish the Black FC: What would your advice be for today's youth, as far as mov- Beans again. ing forward in their pursuit of musical realization? FC: You have released three albums as a leader, right? DUR: I would advise them to listen to and study the old mas- DUR: Yes: Dom Um Romdo, on Muse Records, and Spirit Of ters—like Bela Bartok and Hector Villalobos—and remember The Times and Hotmosphere, on Pablo Records. I've been away that music came first from the Indians putting their ears to the from the recording scene for a while now—I guess in part ground listening for sounds of communications, and from the because of some dissatisfaction with the financial outcome of Africans' message-sending drums. We should always remember those projects. But now I'm ready to go back into the studio and this. Beware of technology taking over your life. You must put together another album with the group that I'm working remain in direct contact with your instrument in its purest with. The concept will be more towards reaching down into my form. Brazilian roots again. And there will be no electronic instru- ments on this record! crafted, and is only available in a 6 1/2 x l4 880P. Pearl International, Inc., PO PEARL SNARES size. The drum is also available with all Box 111240, Nashville, TN 37211, chrome-plated hardware. Pearl has also (615) 833-4477. AND HARDWARE introduced a new 3 x 13 Soprano Piccolo Pearl has added a solid-brass, hand-ham- snare drum, available in brass and maple. mered snare drum to its Custom Classic Pearl's new H-880 hi-hat stand has REMO PHOTO FINISH snare drum line. The drum utilizes ten been introduced with a newly designed brass-plated "bridge-type" lug casings double chain-drive foot board and Pearl's DRUMS AND DYNAMOS and features solid 2.0mm Super Hoops, Pivoting Chain Channel Roller Pulley Remo, Inc. has formed a Percussion Arts an adjustable S-012 strainer, and gold- System. The Pulley System allows the division to develop and market advanced plated, high-carbon steel snare wire. The pull rod to be completely independent technology that can reproduce pho- 100% solid brass shell is totally hand- from the foot board motion, thus elimi- tographs, logos, and design art from vir- nating any unnecessary friction. tually any source onto drum coverings According to Pearl, the binding of the and drumheads. To illustrate the tech- pull rod is completely eliminated, result- nology, Remo has introduced limited-edi- ing in a smoother response. The H-880 is tion drumsets featuring full-color photo- also equipped with a new multi-position- graphic reproductions of exotic cars on able tripod base, and allows full control the drum covering, and is making tam- over pedal angle adjustments. bourines and drumheads with cus- In the bass drum pedal department, tomized photo images. Pearl has added a full-length, solid steel The drumsets are available in five base plate and two anchor screws to its P- designs, each featuring images of an Pearl's new solid-brass 880 bass drum pedal for more stability. exotic car on Quadura drum covering Custom Classic snare drum. The new pedal has been dubbed the P- material. No more than 250 sets of each design will be offered for export. Each drumset will be made to order in any of VELLUM & Remo's Encore or MasterTouch models, and will be priced 20% above the regular PARCHMENT WORKS suggested retail price. Remo's decorative and CALFSKIN HEADS drumheads can incorporate high-quality Vellum & Parchment Works, Ltd., succes- reproductions of school logos, photo- sors to one of the oldest established vel- graphic portraits in color or black and lum and drum skin manufacturers, N. white, or special designs. Customized Elzas & Zonen, Ltd., are the makers of drumset coverings are also offered. Kalfo Super Timpani drum skins. In Remo has also introduced their riveted to cowbells, conforming to the addition to timpani heads, the company DynamOs, adhesive-backed decorative shape of the bell and creating a striking offers other transparent and white calf- rings designed to help cut precise, circu- edge more conducive to the pounding of skins under the Velvet line, which are lar air-holes in the front heads of bass the drumset player. According to LP, the especially popular for marching drums, drums. DynamOs come in sets of three Ridge Rider also eliminates the need for according to the company. The makers sizes, and are available in black or white. taping up a cowbell to reduce overtones. also state that due to increased demand Remo, Inc., 12804 Raymer St., No. In addition, LP has redesigned their cow- for "natural sounds," the prices of their Hollywood, CA 91605, (818) 983-2600. bell's mounting system. The new design calfskins have been reduced to encourage features a drop-forged floating capture young professionals and amateur percus- device, enabling the cowbell to be firmly sionists to try out calfskin heads. Vellum IP RIDGE RIDER anchored to a 3/8" shaft with only hand- & Parchment Works guarantees that all LP's Ridge Rider is a molded piece of tightening. , Inc., 160 calfskins used in their tannery are from specially formulated plastic that is firmly Belmont Ave., Garfield, NJ 07026. animals that died naturally or were casu- alties, since these are the only types that rounded at both ends to form a double- will produce the sound and structure the butted 16" stick, Abel Stix may be filled company requires for their products. with a chemical light insert in a variety of Vellum & Parchment Works, Ltd., PO colors. The chemical reaction causes the Box 1, Celbridge, Co. Kildare, entire stick to glow with a colored light Ireland, tel: (01) 628-8270, fax: (01) said to last up to six hours. 627-3319. Because they are the same at both ends, the sticks are balanced perfectly for twirling, tossing, and other stage tricks. NEW CANNON According to the manufacturers, the sticks also offer additional power and vol- SNARES AND SETS covered finishes are black, white, red, ume on drums and cymbals. JTA Prod- Cannon Percussion has introduced their blue, silver, or chrome. The drums come ucts, 17 Santa Cruz Way, Camarillo, new Mega series drumsets. Mega series in depths of 4 1/2", 6 1/2", and 8". Univer- CA 93010, (805) 987-8124. sets feature power depths, maple/ sal Percussion, Inc., 2773 E. Midloth- mahogany shells, heavy-duty mounts and ian Blvd., Struthers, OH 44471, (216) spurs, hardware and head upgrades, add- 755-6423. D&F SURE GRIP on drums, and, according to Cannon, low D&F Products offers Sure Grip cushion prices. Also available from Cannon are drumstick sleeves. According to the mak- their Howitzer 11 snare drums, which ABEL STIX ers, Sure Grip eliminates stick vibrations feature die-cast hoops, maple/mahogany For drummers seeking something differ- to the arms, provides a better grip on shells, and hand-rubbed finishes and ent in the visual department, Abel Stix sticks, makes difficult stick manipula- bearing edges, and are available in maple may be just the thing. Hand-made of tions easier, and reduces arm fatigue. or rosewood finishes. Available plastic- durable polycarbonate material and Sure Grip can also be cleaned with soap and water and transferred to new sticks. are available in 36", 48", 54", and 74" its makers. It comes in various lengths, D&F Products, Inc. 6735 Hidden Hills sizes. An eight-pair stick caddy is also and is ideal for goose-neck applications, Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45230, (513) 232- available to complement the entire line. but can be easily adapted to overhead 4972. Impact Industries, Inc., 333 Plumer mic' situations. Ac-cetera, Inc, 3120 St., Wausau, WI54401, (715) 842-1651. Banksville Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15216, tel: (800) 537-3491, fax: (412) IMPACT SIGNATURE 344-0818. DRUM BAGS AC-CETERA Impact now offers top-of-the-line SLINGERLAND/HSS Signature drum bags made of rip-stop RUBBER-NECK vinyl. The bags are fully padded with 1/2" Ac-cetera's patented Rubber-Neck CORRECTION foam, and are internally covered with a "bendable" microphone arm features a A New And Notable item in the August fleece lining. All zippers are high- smooth, non-glare black finish, and fea- MD regarding improvements to Slinger- strength YKK, and carrying straps are tures "no creak" technology, according to land Spirit kits gave an incorrect phone 500# burst strength and come standard number for the distributor, HSS, Inc. with the soft grip Impact handle. The correct number is (804) 550-2700. According to Impact, the advantage of rip-stop vinyl is that it is waterproof and can easily be cleaned with water or Armorall, which returns the exterior to a like-new condition. All cymbal bags have shoulder carrying straps. Hardware bags are constructed of double-layer vinyl and

WILLIAM PLUS: CALHOUN TONY BRAUNAGEL THE DRUMMERS OF JETHRO TULL

Columns by Emil Richards Photo fay Lissa Wales Joe Morello A Modern Drummer Exclusive: Will Kennedy Simon Phillips Sound Supplement Casey Scheuerell

ADVERTISER PAGE ADVERTISER PAGE NUMBER NUMBER Abel Stix/J.TA. Products 82 Meredith Music Publications 77 ABK Rocks 85 Metalmorphosis/Bobby Rock 117 Acupad/Hart Systems, Inc. 99 Music Tech 115 AKG Acoustic 59 Musician's Institute 89 Atlanta Pro Percussion 110 Nady Systems, Inc. 78 100 National Drum Association (N.D.A.) 98 Brady Drums 71 Noble & Cooley 116 Calato/Regal Tip 92 Paiste 34/35 Cana * Sonic 97 Pearl International 16/17,86/87 Cappella Drumsticks 67 Percussion Paradise 119 Corder Drum Company 96 Play It Straight 110 DCI Music Video 91 Precision Drum Co. 119 ddrum 84 , USA 5 Drum • Baffle/Skyline Musical Prod. 119 Pro'Mark 77,79,96 Drum Doctors 90 PureCussion, Inc. 81 73,113 Quick Accessories 104 Drummers Collective 105 Real Feel/HQ Percussion Products 111 Drums on Sale 118 Remo 43 DrumStix 80 America 94 Evans Products 1 ROC N SOC 111 Falicon Design 119 ROLAND 122/123 FCN Music 57 Royce Percussion 114 Gary Chaffee/CPP-Belwin, Inc. 67 Sabian 49 Geddit? 7 Sam Ash Music Stores 119 Gibraltar/Kaman Music Corp. 75 Shure Brothers 51 Glenn Weber Drum Studio 118 Silver Fox Percussion 118 Gretsch Inside Back Cover Simmons Electronics, U.S.A. 93 Imperial 118 Slingerland 94,95 Island Cases 118 13 Jemm Company 80 Steve Weiss Music 119 John Shearer's Talking Drums 104 Stick Handler/Mechanical Music Corp. 119 KAT, Inc. 53 Super Gloss/Sam Barnard 111 L.T. Lug Lock 115 Tama 46/47 Latin Percussion, Inc. 63,107 Taw Sound Co. 110 Ludwig Industries Inside Front Cover The Original Drum Screen 90 Manny's Music Store 106 The Woodwind & The 115 Mapex Percussion 61 Thoroughbred Music 112 Martin Bradfield 118 45 MD Back Issue Clearance 83,114 Vic Firth, Inc. 41,88 MD Equipment Annual 103 Waddell's Cymbal Warehouse 109 MD & Paiste Trivia Contest 64/65 Yamaha 54/55 MD Subsriptions 127 Zildjian 15, 97, 99, 120/121 , Outside Back Cover Modern DrummerWear 10/11

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